Admiral Tibet

Love this bredrin's voice! - DJ Danny Fallon

Excellent album! - Mike Pawka

Admiral Tibet (born Kenneth Allen) aka "Mr. Reality" is one of reggae's hidden gems, a singer with a fluid voice who doesn't get the publicity of some of his peers due to his philosophy of "quality, not quantity." Admiral Tibet began his career as a singer during the 80's and was consistently successful despite the prevailing DJ/ragga/dancehall styles of the time. Among his early hits were "Babylon War," Leave People Business" and "Serious Time." On "Determination," his sixth album, he releases his strongest material yet, while remaining true to his conscious, reality-based themes (as a member of The 12 Tribes, you can be assured that there is zero slackness!). My favorite tracks are "Why Should" and "Give Praises," on the latter of which his voice is slightly reminiscent of Gregory Isaacs. Other strong cuts include "Letter to Mama," "My Determination," and "One by One." Of course, these are personal favorites, and it seems that everybody who listens to this album has a different favorite tune- it's that strong. If you're not familiar with his work, you owe yourself an introduction to Admiral Tibet, and this is the best place to start. Highly recommended. - DJ Bahilman

In the past two years or so we were treated to some great singles from the often overlooked veteran Admiral Tibet (born Kenneth Allen, Freehill, Jamaica, 1960). They were recorded for producer The Great African of Humal Records and were partly released as a kind of forerunner for an announced full length album. Now here's that album, entitled "Determination", and it's truly an excellent set from - in our opinion - one of the leading conscious dancehall singers, although his name is hardly ever mentioned in contrast to artists like for example Luciano and Everton Blender. Maybe it is because the Admiral hasn't exactly flood the market with 45s and albums since he broke in 1985 with "Babylon War" on Sherman Clacher's Arabic Records. "It's better to deliver quality than quantity" could be his device. So, we're pretty sure this album will be more than welcome to his fans and also to those who are longing for some real good reggae music, in other words well produced quality songs, fine arrangements, a distinctive sound and an appealing original vocal style. From beginning to end one is treated to all these musical values. "Determination" is packed with beautiful, entertaining tunes incorporating conscious themes that deal with reality and also matters of the heart performed over fresh original backdrops as well as revitalized classic riddims. With so many highlights included here and every track having it's own merit it's almost impossible to point out the standouts. So, we won't even give it a try and thus just stick to our personal favourites, the ones for which we gladly use the 'repeat' button on our cd player. First of all there's the strong album opener Why So Greedy, which is followed by the awesome "Why Should". Then the wicked singles "No Love Without Feeling" across the wonderful "Smiling Face" riddim, "I Know" and "Give Praises", before we end with "Where Is The Love", the impressive "Letter To Mama" and the very enjoyable "No One Knows". With this excellent album Admiral Tibet fully shows that his talent is stronger than ever. - Teacher & Mr. T

I make no secret of the fact I'm a die-hard (if ever) Admiral Tibet fan -- I consider this classic roots singer to be the missing link between Bob Marley and Garnett Silk, on a par with the greats of an earlier era and one of the best songwritiers around -- rest assured anytime he has one song on a single riddim compilation it's going to tbe the best song on the disc no matter who the other artists are. He's also an artist who's never gotten his due as far as I'm concerned though his references (no other '80s song can match the power of "Babylon War" and he wrote the title track to the Island Film The Lunatic) are impeccable.....Determination ... is a welcome addition to his oeuvre.

That said, the production, from the Great African, makes this disc like nothing Tibet has ever done before. There's a smoothed-out, rolling rhythm & blues feel to the tracks that (like a lot of what's coming out of Jamaica right now) sounds more American than Caribbean (or African for that matter). It's as if Tibet is backed by a full-tilt Wailers touring band complete with punching horns, Ray Coniff-style backing vocals and super-sized bass and drums. As usual Tibet rises to the occasion with songs that straddle the rhythms and the roots inside. A few of these cuts have eked out as singles ("I Know," "Why Should" and "No One Knows") and there are a handful of other songs here that speak to the heart including "Why So Greedy," "Rich Don't Care," "Joy" and the blistering title track. Tibet's voice is so distinctive it puts him in a category with the likes of Yamio Bolo, Junior Reid and even Hugh Mundell. Because of the dancehall riddims he worked over in the early days he became a cult figure and an acquired taste but he's always seemed right on the brink of that one great song that's going to break him into a wider audience. If it's his uncompromising lyrics that have kept that from happening till now perhaps these crossover riddims will give some unfamiliar with his great body of work a chance to hear an artist who always puts a 100% effort into his work.... - Chuck Foster