Cry Tuff Chants On U

Prince Far I, the legendary gravel-voiced reggae deejay (he preferred the term “chanter”) who died too young during a robbery in 1983, is memorialized by this collection of tracks recorded between 1981 and 1984 at Adrian Sherwood’s On-U Sound studio. While lovers of heavyweight roots reggae should seek out all of Far I’s releases on the Trojan, On-U Sound, Joe Gibbs, and other labels, this is an outstanding introduction to his work. Note in particular the devastating “Virgin,” the wry and bemused “Bedward the Flying Preacher,” and the militant “Dreadlock Soldier,” on which his dread vision is matched and offset perfectly by Sherwood’s avant-garde production style.