Royal Priesthood

This up-and-coming duo released one of the most exciting gospel reggae albums of 2002 with Royal Priesthood, a slamming collection of dancehall and neo-roots reggae that is heavy and virtuosic enough to take unwary secular dancehall kings and queens by surprise. Produced by Sherwin Gardner (a singer in his own right and a fellow native of Trinidad & Tobago), Tiko and Gitta focus mainly on powerful, minimalist dancehall grooves such as those found on "Hallelujah" and the insanely catchy "One Minute You're Here," but occasionally veer into modern adaptations of classic roots rhythms (as on "Zion March") and hip hop ("Rudiments"). Tiko is a nimble chatter and Gitta (a.k.a. Guitar Dan) builds effective instrumental settings for him, nicely leavening the modern dancehall flavor with more organic elements. Not everything works perfectly — "Time," with its weirdly whiny vocals and sped-up rockers beat, is less than completely successful, for example — but overall Royal Priesthood is a highly promising debut from a young duo that is sure to win admirers among believers and infidels alike.