She didn't get much respect as a member of the chart-running, violence-generating
So Solid Crew
, but that all changed when
Ms. Dynamite
released her solo debut,
A Little Deeper
. And with nary a
2-step
beat in sight, it would appear
has made a clean break from her
garage
past to embrace a form of British
ragga
/
R&B
that makes her one of the few evoking references to
Roots Manuva
and
Lauryn Hill
. She has as much personality and strength of delivery as either of them (high praise, that), and carries the album as much as the tight production. Another name to think of is
Craig David
; like the only
figure to make any impression on American
fans,
has a few concessions to commercial radio (i.e., the musically unadventurous). The
Santana
guitar lines on
"Put Him Out"
and the single
"It Takes More"
would fit perfectly on radio. Sure, the album's a bit more edgy than any of her American contemporaries (
"Krazy Krush"
is a great head-twisting track), but it's still not too far from
Hill
and other
neo-soul
figures. That may make her more palatable to a worldwide audience, but it also makes for a more diluted sound that doesn't impress quite like it could have. ~ John Bush