Washington D.C. based reggae superstars are back in black with “Born in Babylon” their newest and darkest LP to date since the release of “Get Wiser” in 2006. They followed up “Get Wiser” with the “Stars and Stripes” EP in 2007 but this is their first LP in more than 3 years and it feels good hearing something new and fresh in a scene that has been opening our eyes and ears to many of the problems that face this world that are both environmentally and politically charged. The album art for the new album is a classic example of how creative this album is, it’s a pig eating out of the southern hemisphere, it doesn’t getting any better than that, well yes it does…wait till you hear what’s inside it!

“Born in Babylon” isn’t just another reggae album, but more of a revolutionary piece of
Art with multiple sided messages connected with multiple sided lyrics intertwined with diverse instrumentals driven by hard roots drum and bass. When you hear all of this, you’re just speechless, there is something inside you that feels more aware of certain situations, weather it be making a change and instead of always saying tomorrow, do it today or just standing up for something that you strongly believe in. Their first single off the album was “I Don’t Wanna Wait” which dropped April, 14th 2009 and made quite the impact. Their second single to follow was “Losing My Mind” which was released July 14th, 2009 right after their high energetic performance at ALL GOOD MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL held by Walthers-Prdouctions in Mason Town, WV. That would be the bands 5th consecutive year playing the fest. The new single left no doubt in the fans minds that this new album would be the most diverse album than any previously released stuff from these guys.

The album began with Born in Babylon and after two hits of the cymbals the following slipped from Jacob Hemphill’s lips “I came from nothing but not nothing like “Nothing” “Nothing” like nobody thought I was something…”Nothing”, like “called every name in the book”, But for every second guess I never gave a second look, Look I tell myself “Don’t let it get to me”, Cuz if the best they got is not impressing me, than there no reason they should get the best of me, while they were aiming at my words they missed the rest of me” This song really keeps your mind on it’s toes, talking about how things are now and what they were intended to be but the system has totally flipped it and that we are aware but if anyone talks about it, there is always something that has to be said to stop it so “they” stay in control.  Losing My Mind is the next tune on the album with a solid drum roll followed by the horns and this song possess the meaning, we are what we are, we did what we did and there is no reason to change that because for every bad decision made leads us down another road, and for every road that we go down we learn something new. There is no set path, there is no set direction, it’s more or less following your heart and even if you’re alone, you’re better off doing what you love or you will soon lose your mind trying to be something you aren’t. Used to Matter is a song directed towards the change of a society that everything we once new is gone and there is always something new to take over weather before it actually used to matter or not. Bleed Through (feat. Black Boo of Mambo Sauce) was re-worked and collaborated by Black Boo of Mambo Sauce for this album but another version of Bleed Through was released on their 2008 EP Stars and Stripes” The new version, the one you will find on this album defiantly brings some hip-hop to the album and one of Jacob’s part that I really enjoyed was when he says the word “stone….” I know a little bit ridiculous but this song has something for everyone. You and Me (feat. Chris Boomer from Guam) is the next song on the album and is your one and only slow cliché love song on the album, so enjoy it. Chris & Jacob do a perfect duet on the song to make it memorable. Don’t Forget is an amazing tune, one of my favorite songs on the album with a drop kick bass line and a sexy guitar rift that just has you moving and grooving and singling alone. The next song on the album is Decide You’re Gone and if you ever thought you found the one you would love forever and he or she gets up and leaves after you’re pretty sure you’ve fallen in love and you see them everywhere and when you talk to them or see them, you get that knot in your stomach just knowing that they are gone forever and won’t be coming back that it’s time to try and move on. I Don’t Wanna Wait is the next tune on the album, and like stated previously was their first single released for the album. The song is talking about always doing the right thing but sometimes the right thing is the hard thing and it’s not worth taking those short cuts to produce the wrong thing. And everyone says we should do this, we should do that, especially the Government and the only thing that escapes their lips is the word “tomorrow”. We all need to make an agenda, follow it, stop talking, do it and move on to the next thing. That is how you get the stuff done that needs to get done. Look at this song on an environmental and a political stand point. Don’t let it come down to “tomorrow”. I Tried (feat. Gentleman and Tamika) is the next tune on the album that talks about trying to get over someone that is important in your life, trying to be yourself, trying to change but you can’t forget about them, can’t get them off your mind. The more you think about them, the deeper the cut bleeds and you just don’t know what to do to get passed it but you’ve tried everything. Never Ever is the next tune on the album but this one begins with the horns and talks about love on the opposite angle of the other person falling for you and you really don’t think anything of it, you don’t care if it works or not, this is very simple for you but for the other person it isn’t simple at all. Is it worth it to keep on running back and forth? Waking Up, the next tune on the album that brings us back to the “revolutionary” aspect of the album with it’s finally time to open up your eyes and see what’s really going on. If we all did this once in awhile, I think the world would be a little bit different. We would than understand a lot more answers to the questions that deal with “Why?” and always thinking what we need to do without even looking at the problems from both angles. Summer Breeze, is defiantly an eye opening song in terms of instrumental and lyrics. First let it be known this is the only Bobb Lee song on album. The song is compared to how all the wrongs that we do, everything that is so bad for the nation, and how it’s all right in front of us just like a Summer Breeze, that you can feel it, but no one is doing anything about it. The lyrics of this song gives me the chills, just listen to the last part starting at 4:33 and re-wind it and think about it again, and when you think you got it down, just do it all over again and hit repeat. Do you feel that feeling? Thunderstorms, is a very slow, pretty depressing song that I tend to listen to on a rainy night. This was actually one of my least favorite songs on the album but it grew on me and now I really enjoy it especially with the lap slide played by Bobby Thomson who toured with SOJA on their recent national “Born in Babylon” tour. The last song on the album is Here I Am (feat. Marley, Rory and Eric of Rebelution) the song is great, it’s a song about a booty call. How can you not like this one? My favorite part of this song is towards the end when Jacob hits the pretty high notes on “Only” and “Lonely” This song was written in San Barbra, CA at I believe Marley’s house, they had three days off during the tour, which usually ended up with them partying over there and after they were done socializing with everyone they went up and wrote this song together. Jacob and the guys decided to throw it on the album. Jacob said, “Rory used the same keyboard for recording that he had it’s this Realistic Audio Keyboard, it is the worst keyboard you have seen in your life. It is a 12 key keyboard and I forced him to use that on the album. We had to mic it and shit”. I am sure both bands joke about amongst themselves.

In conclusion, the album is a must have for all reggae fans. Even if you aren’t a big fan of reggae I would recommend this album because the messages that are behind a lot of these songs are things that are never really brought to our attention but their painted quite well. The one complaint I have about the album is I was hoping for more of a balance on slower to faster tempo song ratio. But from an interview I read over at ThePier.org the band has already a lot of material written that will be on the next album coming hopefully less than three years after “Born in Babylon”, in all joking aside beautiful album art, beautiful album, and if they come to a town near you, check them out. When are they playing? Check them out on all of their network sites! Look how easy I made it for you. Thanks for reading and keep supporting live music and I’ll see you at a show soon.

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By: Ryan McKeldin (BRANCH OUT MUSIC . COM)

Please look for an EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW with Jacob Hemphill Lead Singer & Guitarist for SOJA in the next coming weeks.