Afrikan Simba - Mission (Reality Shock Records)

‘Mission’ largely serves as a collection of singles Simba recorded for Reality Shock in recent years, featuring riddims like Equal Rights (‘Human Being’ aka. ‘Only Human’) and Jah Love (‘No Good For You’).

Fans may also recognize the riddim from ‘Treat Yourself Good’, which we fondly remember from Mikey General and No-Maddz’s ‘Revolution’. In this track, Simba advocates for a healthy lifestyle, stating: “Make your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food…”, marking, as far as we know, the first time terms like “spelt” and “gluten-free” have appeared in a reggae song.

Simba collaborated with the aforementioned Mikey General for the excellent repatriation anthem ‘Circle Mama Africa’ (with the lamented Ray Carless on saxophone), and teams up with UK veteran Dub Judah for the equally enjoyable ‘Cast Dem Out’ (with Horseman on drums).

For ‘Work Hard’, Kris Kemist repurposed the riddim from Errol Bellot’s ‘Know Jah’.

Stylistically, ‘Mission’ is a highly diverse album, ranging from the new roots vibes of tracks like ‘Circle Mama Africa’ or ‘Run I Race’ (gitaar Earl ‘Chinna’ Smith), to the steppers energy of ‘Cast Dem Out’ or ‘Cannot Stop Your Flow’, the nyahbinghi rhythms in ‘Progression’ and even the smooth lovers rock of ‘Oh Girl’ (featuring the delicious flute sounds of Titii and backing vocals by Indra).

We wasted no time adding this album to our collection and highly recommend you do the same. Raspect due Afrikan Simba!