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More Time (Linton Kwesi Johnson album)

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More Time
Studio album by
Linton Kwesi Johnson
Released1998
GenreDub poetry[1]
LabelLKJ
ProducerDennis Bovell
Linton Kwesi Johnson chronology
A Cappella Live
(1996) 		More Time
(1998) 		Independent Intavenshan
(1998)

More Time is an album by the Jamaican-British musician Linton Kwesi Johnson.[2][3] It was released in 1998 through Johnson's LKJ Records.[4][5] "Liesense fi Kill", about police brutality, was released as a single.[6] Johnson supported the album with an international tour.[7][8] The lyrics to many songs were reproduced in Johnson's book of poetry Mi Revalueshanary Fren.[9]

Production

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Recorded in Switzerland, the album was produced by Dennis Bovell.[1] Johnson was backed by Bovell's Dub Band.[10] The album was delayed so that Johnson could attend to his literary career.[11] The title track rails against the culture of British workaholism.[12] "Reggae fi Bernard" is about the death of Johnson's nephew.[13] "Reggae fi May Ayim" is dedicated to the poet May Ayim.[14] "If I Waz a Top Natch Poet" references Johnson's roles of poet and popular musician, contrasting high and low art.[15]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[16]
Robert Christgau(1-star Honorable Mention)[17]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[11]
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide[13]

Robert Christgau, in Rolling Stone, opined that "L.K.J. may well be the subtlest political thinker in pop history, and bandleader Dennis Bovell's urbane skank proved to be Nineties reggae's most imaginative alternative to dance-hall boom-bah."[18] Christgau also praised "If I Waz a Tap Natch Poet" and "Reggae fi Bernard".[17] Billboard wrote that the album "is powered by [Johnson's] indefatigable rebel spirit and honed for maximum impact by 20 years of serious rhyme rocking."[19]

AllMusic concluded that "despite his tweedy, bespectacled image, his politics are anything but objective or disengaged—he writes about social injustice in general and racism in particular with a quietly seething sense of outrage and an incisive wit."[16]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleLength
1."More Time" 
2."Reggae fi Bernard" 
3."Hurricane Blues" 
4."Liesense fi Kill" 
5."If I Waz a Top Natch Poet" 
6."Reggae fi May Ayim" 
7."Poems of Shape and Motion" 
8."Seasons of the Heart" 
9."New Word Hawdah" 

References

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  1. ^ a b "Global Reggae Pulse". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 31. Aug 1, 1998. p. 38.
  2. ^ "Global Music Pulse". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 28. Jul 11, 1998. p. 47.
  3. ^ The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Contemporary British and Irish Literature. Wiley. 2020. p. 324.
  4. ^ Phillips, Caryl (11 July 1998). "Prophet in Another Land". The Guardian. p. T28.
  5. ^ "Music". Features. The Times. November 6, 1999. p. 11.
  6. ^ Billen, Andrew (2 Sep 1998). "Why Inglan Is Still a Bitch for the Tap Natch Poet". Evening Standard. p. 25.
  7. ^ Williamson, Nigel (Jul 17, 1999). "The U.K.: Ten Noteworthy Noisemakers". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 29. p. 38.
  8. ^ "Also Oct. 16". Newsday. 12 Sep 1999. p. D33.
  9. ^ Seddon, Deborah; del Pilar Melgarejo, Maria (2018). Gale Researcher Guide for: Poetry in 'Rotten English': Linton Kwesi Johnson. Gale, Cengage Learning.
  10. ^ Lozaw, Tristram (September 17, 1999). "Boston Beat". Scene. Boston Herald. p. 25.
  11. ^ a b Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 4. MUZE. p. 657.
  12. ^ Longley, Martin (18 Jan 1999). "Review: Johnson Waxes Lyrical with Dub". Birmingham Post. p. 13.
  13. ^ a b (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. p. 436.
  14. ^ Florvil, Tiffany N. (2020). Mobilizing Black Germany: Afro-German Women and the Making of a Transnational Movement. University of Illinois Press.
  15. ^ McGill, Robert (2003). "Goon Poets of the Black Atlantic: Linton Kwesi Johnson's Imagined Canon". Textual Practice. 17 (3): 561–574.
  16. ^ a b "More Time Review by Rick Anderson". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  17. ^ a b "Linton Kwesi Johnson". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  18. ^ Christgau, Robert (May 13, 1999). "World". Rolling Stone. No. 812. p. 69.
  19. ^ Oumano, Elena (Oct 3, 1998). "A Fresh Look at LKJ's Fiery Reggae Dub". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 40. p. 29.
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