Keneil Brown Aka Kenny Bling has dropped his second EP titled Still Working and its out on Afar Music Group. The six-track EP is put together including three songs which have been recorded for some time and other tracks which have have been recorded recently. Kenny Bling has music in the blood as His father is Scully Brown was a deejay who worked the Montego Bay dance scene during the 1980s, so not a bad mentor.
By Liam Monaghan
Two of the tracks have picked up solid traction in Jamaica, sometimes when a track busses in Europe its important that it can buss in Jamaica as the homeland of the music. Mi Chargie, done and Bubble Fimi, are two of the songs that were released prior to Still Working. Both enjoyed solid traction in Jamaica. The Ep has been the largest project in some time for Kenny a video for the track was filmed in his hometown of Steel Lane, Stony Hill so you know he’s taken the EP seriously!
Mi Chargie
Its difficult to label this style of track, its not Dancehall nor Reggae but a combination of R&B and Soul Jamaican style. The riddim is very crisp and modern and a simple bit with some some decent drum patterns and guitar plucking. Its an interesting track, you will have to concentrate to what the story within the track but the messages are clear as the track tells us about a persona who Kenny is mates with and how they are very very close, interesting track that features on the Level up rythmn.
High Grade
Its quite obvious what this track is about by the title. A pro weed track listening the benefits of high grade weed with a journey of being a youngster and finding a weed plant and his dad explaining what it is. The riddim is I guess what you would call a modern dancehall riddim, you’ve got that same sounding keys that you’ll hear in 90% of new dancehall tracks, you could quite easily imagine Popcaan on this riddim.
Bubble Fimi
Whining and bubbling is the game here. The ridden is a chilled riddim which I quite like, its got an element of uptempo high strumming and the track feels fresh and a summer pool side listen. The hook in the track is nice and rememberable and theres talk of a girl having a boyfriend and boyfriend has a girlfriend but basically the message I got was lets go and have a good old fashioned whine.
Gyal Ah Pree
Probably the best riddim on the EP I’ve heard, I could hear Stylo G on this easily, you’ve got the robotic style drums and nice slightly dark bassline, the EDM sounding keys create a haunting sound rather than just sound out of place so thats a healthy addition to the track. I would probably say that this is the track that would be pick traction in Europe in the Dancehall market. Lyrically I like Bling’s delivery in this track, its upbeat, quick, witty and probably the best track I’ve heard so far (subjective to me of course).
Choices
A song appealing to youth to stay the straight and narrow and it has a hip hop influence with a piano and some strings which we haven’t heard before and its a shame that Kenny hasn’t done more of this style on the EP. The drum pattern fits a hip hop beat and suits Kenny far better. The songs message is a positive one and its a track you can follow and relate too. The track shows Bling in a different light, you would hear this track on plenty of underground or indie radio stations in the UK.
Feel No Way
To finish off the EP, back to a ‘Future Dancehall’ kind of vibe. Riddim has that steel drum vibe running through it, its not upbeat though keeping a chilled vibe. Its got an element of Dre Skull to it which is a compliment to the producer. Its nice to finish up on a love song and the chorus and hook are all done very well, definitely the live track that will make the crowd sway and connect with Bling.
Overall a bit all over the place, its nice to have variety in any concoction of music and most of the time I push for more, I do think that the R&B/Hip Hop style suits Bling far more than the EDM/Future dancehall vibe. The productions are crisp and on point and theres no doubt that Bling has talent in his writing style.
