Richer Than Money

Reggae aficionados may best remember Don Yute for the string of infectious, pop-inflected dancehall hits he cut in the early ‘90s. Yute honed his buoyant singjay style under the tutelage of more experienced artists like Spragga Benz, Bounty Killer, and Wayne Wonder, who collaborated with the young DJ on 1993’s floor-filling hit “Love in Excess.” Since that early career high, Yute has become something of an entrepreneur, founding his own label (Golden Child) and trying his hand at production work. But whereas Yute’s early hits produced by Bobby Digital and Dave Kelly were firmly in the dancehall vein, his Golden Child productions have drawn from a much more eclectic array of influences, incorporating elements of reggaeton, hip-hop, and R&B. The full-length Richer Than Money collects a dozen of Yute’s self-produced efforts from between 2009 and 2012. Though varied enough in style to sustain interest, Richer Than Money boasts a uniformly polished production aesthetic; everything here sounds glossy and radio-ready.