Details

Track Listing 1. Runway - (Patois) 2. Champion Sound - (Patois) 3. Lonely Monday Morning - (Patois) 4. Drunken Styles - (Patois) 5. Girl, I've Been Hurt 6. Hey Pretty Love 7. Informer - (Patois) 8. Creative Child - (Patois) 9. Lady With the Red Dress - (Patois) 10. Uhh in You - (Patois) 11. Can't Get Enough 12. Ease Up 13. 50 Ways - (Patois, bonus track) 14. Lonely Monday Morning - (Patois, remix)
Album Notes Personnel: Snow, MC Shan (vocals); DJ Prince (vocals, bass, percussion); Ronaldo Dasilva (guitar). Recorded at Bayside Sound Recording Studios, New York. 12 INCHES OF SNOW is a primo dancehall throwdown, combining as it does the best elements of Jamaican dub and reggae with the street smart beats and poetry of American hip-hop. Snow's raps and riddims are as distinctive as his expatriate upbringing in Toronto, Canada, and on the opening "Runway" and the CD bonus track "50 Ways" his jittery rhymes jump trip in and out of the mix like a percussion instrument, recalling the triplet-inflected fills of Jamaican drummers like Sly Dunbar and Bob Marley's "Family Man" Barrett. And while the smoky mix and jazz samples of 12 INCHES OF SNOW echo the breakthroughs of innovators like Linton Kweksi Johnson, it is the overall diversity of musical elements that sets Snow apart from the run of average rappers, be it the Bobby Brown-like R&B ballad "Girl, I've Been Hurt" or the salsa-funk interplay of "Lady With The Red Dress On."
Industry Reviews ...Brace yourself....two-thirds of [12 INCHES OF SNOW is a] woeful attempt to hang [Snow's] coat of smooch-pop credibility on the jagged hook of hardcore dancehall...you'll need an industrial-strength retch receptacle... Melody Maker (04/24/1993)
5 - Average - ...This record is so obsessively, meticulously Jamaican that it's ridiculous... NME (05/01/1993)
...a shower of reggae rants, hip-hop rhymes, and sensitive crooning... - Rating: B- Entertainment Weekly (02/26/1993)
3 Stars - Good - ...[Informer is] the catchiest and funniest reggae crossover since Musical Youth's comparably nonsensical Pass The Dutchie a decade ago... Rolling Stone (05/13/1993)
...packed with a variety of musical styles and lyrical techniques. While primarily a dancehall artist, Snow is quite capable of throwing diverse elements into the mix... The Source (02/01/1993)
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