Mister Yellowman [LP]

2014 vinyl LP reissue of the 1982 original. "Mister Yellowman" is Yellowman's first album with producer Henry "Junjo" Lawes, and undoubtedly one of his best. With vocals by the Roots Radics and Earl "Chinna" Smith's Hi Times band, this mix of dancehall-infected rhythms was only polished by Lawes. Themes include ennui, jadedness with institutions and bureaucracy, sexual trysts and lost love, with the most colorful track being "Yellowman Getting Married," a wild mix that posits the DJ as the perfect husband-even as we're all in on the joke. Yellowman is the voice of the everyday Jamaican, and a masterful DJ whose songs grow on you.