Parla Patois

The 1992 debut album from this delightfully oddball collective remains the best introduction to their unique take on contemporary dancehall reggae. Hailing from the southern French port city of Marseille (“Massilia” in the regional patois), the trio takes a militant stance regarding their local culture, defiantly encouraging the use of local dialect (“on met lo Òai partout!”) while also decrying violence and basically just nicing up the dancehall. Their tag-team approach to chatting keeps the sound fresh, and they ride a digital reggae rhythm like nobody’s business.