Yami Bolo

• Genre: Dancehall

About

Beginning in the early '80s, Yami Bolo was slated as the fresh blood that was to invigorate reggae -- and he has helped to do it. Eschewing gun and money lyrics, Bolo takes Roots Reggae's conscious lyrics and beautiful melodies and floats them over the most modern Dancehall rhythms of the day. It doesn't seem to matter whom he works with: whether it's Sly & Robbie, Bobby Digital, Winston Riley, King Jammy, Augustus Pablo or Tappa Zukie, Bolo's cuts are consistently fresh and catchy. His track "Love is Dangerous," a collaboration with Kazafumi Miyazawa, made him a smash success in Japan, and he's broken out of Jamaica's boundaries elsewhere too, with his positive messages and silky, almost R&B voice. For the best in up-to-date Dancehall with a touch of the class that made '70s reggae albums so great, Yami Bolo is at the top of modern Jamaican artists.

- Jessy Terry