'FOR THE LOVE'~ Review of Layne Tadesse's fresh new EP!



Tadesse's EP, ‘For The Love’ looks set to fly off the shelves or should I say up countless internet charts! Layne is a very exciting artist who sings with energy and conviction, deserving of the title, ‘groundbreaking.’
Having come from a war zone, Eritrea (East Africa,) Layne has clearly benefitted from making a new life in Southern California. This diverse journey has clearly given Layne a sound musical education that may not have been available to him otherwise. Reggae music is Layne’s original soul food however he is extremely talented and absorbed a range of popular musical styles throughout his journey, allowing their influence to permeate his songs- clearly a musical sponge.



Layne is one of the few lesser-known artists I have come across who really understands how to sell messages in a highly commercial way. As executive producer of his EP, Layne is clearly in touch with his roots whilst experimenting successfully using different types of musical fusions. All tracks on. ‘For The Love,’ are recorded to such a professional standard they can easily drop next to the likes of Wyclef, Sean Paul and other popular contemporary artists.  Interestingly, tracks such as ‘Ghetto Corner’ and ‘For The Love’ (FT Keznamdi) are ‘fresh’ yet remain sufficiently authentic to play beside the Reggae greats. These songs are both musically and lyrically sound with Layne speaking of life’s constant struggles and plights which are an essential part of not only Reggae but also Blues, Negro Spirituals and more recently Hip Hop.

Speaking of Hip Hop, I found, ‘Take A Ride’ (Ft Jon Doe & Kai Lovejoy) fascinating, working from an underlying Reggae beat with very American overtones throughout; accentuated by a few bars of extremely good rap. Somehow Layne projects a very raw, hypnotic tone drawing you deep into the tune. My view: this track is clearly commercial from the subject matter alone!


In summary, each of the five tracks are highly individual and are all top quality productions, with most containing serious messages- I’ll leave you to check out ‘Rain’ and ‘For the Love,’ whilst I finish with a comment about track #2. ‘Let It Burn’ is very firey and I can see the likes of Shakira avidly winding those hips-now you know exactly which rhythm we’re talking about and why you really should check out this talented, diverse and highly creative artist.

Jaz McKenzie
Professional writer/word magician! Contact me and we'll add a little spice to your image- includes Bio’s, Press releases, Reviews, Website content, Blogs, Personal poetry and more: itsbraap@live.co.uk


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