X-Tra Naked - Shabba Ranks

“X-Tra Naked" came out in 1992, and had Shabba Ranks, the Jamaican Reggae-Dancehall star work off the hype of having a hit the year prior with "Mr. Loverman". This album has him move away from this lighter, more mainstream work and concentrate on advancing the then-new fusion of Hip Hop and Reggae which was Ragga.

1. "Ting-A-Ling"

This was a single from the album, and so one of the most popular ...
...in the best way as he hits us with a big Dancehall tune to get you moving, and get you in the correct mood for his music. He just gets straight into it, and doesn't give you any time to adapt, you either get into it or lose out, and you really don't to as he makes sure that it is of the highest quality he is capable of.

**Five Stars**

2. "Slow And Sexy"

This track obviously draws similarities between ... more

“X-Tra Naked" came out in 1992, and had Shabba Ranks, the Jamaican Reggae-Dancehall star work off the hype of having a hit the year prior with "Mr. Loverman". This album has him move away from this lighter, more mainstream work and concentrate on advancing the then-new fusion of Hip Hop and Reggae which was Ragga.

1. "Ting-A-Ling"

This was a single from the album, and so one of the most popular tunes from the album, and it has him start things in the best way as he hits us with a big Dancehall tune to get you moving, and get you in the correct mood for his music. He just gets straight into it, and doesn't give you any time to adapt, you either get into it or lose out, and you really don't to as he makes sure that it is of the highest quality he is capable of.

**Five Stars**

2. "Slow And Sexy"

This track obviously draws similarities between his "Mr. Loverman" song, for obvious reasons, and of course he has to show that he is willing to do a little of this in order to keep his newer fans happy with other tracks from him, and he does so with this smooth track which is described well through the title of it. He doesn't choose to slow it down himself, and goes in a high-gear, leaving responsibility in this calmer stuff to a guest singer.

3. "Will Power"

On the "Collage Rock Riddim", this one finds him doing what is a laid-back Dancehall tune to ease you in before he drops all the heavy ones in the album. I thought that it did well as a filler tune, as many other bring much more to it, but I wouldn't say that this is a bad one, he just makes more of others with similar structures and content.

**Four Stars**

4. "Muscle Grip"

This one seesm to carry through the type of thing to the track before it, and t finds him calming down his approach to the music by doing a track which is clearing influenced by Reggae with it production, and it seems to do all that it needs to do to reinforce what the previous one attempts to push upon it. The imagery here is surprisingly effective, and it adds to the experience as he gets intimate.

**Four Stars**

5. "Rude Boy"
To switch everything up in seconds, this one effective has him do the Dancehall equivalent to Gangsta rap as this one finds him toasting his way through a track about him and his boys running in on snitches and showing that they are just as ruthless as he hope people see him to be. The grooves in this one are funky, and so give you the chance to engage in it, whether you agree with the lyrics or not.

**Five Stars**

6. "Cocky Rim"

This is an energetic track from him which forces you to come into the flow of it all, and this can't be a negative as it has him chose to do something from earlier, but go about it in an alternative approach as he gets nasty again, but does it with a higher pace his time around, and the results are just as good as before (if not better). As most on here, it doesn't require much to get into, and every time you here it, it sounds fresh.

**Five Stars**

7. "What'cha Gonna Do?"

As this one starts off you notice that it is clearly very different to anything else he tends to do, but it isn't a negative as fresh off a high-profile collaboration with KRS-One, he continues this by working with Queen Latifah and doing another Dancehall-Hip Hop jam, which is just as refreshing as such a prospects sounds.

**Five Stars**

8. "Bedroom Bully"

Despite some possibly finding this one slightly repetitive in having him doing another tune which deals with him having sex, I personally felt that this one had a lot more depth to it than you initially find in it as the lyrics in it have him come out and speak on how he has gained he approach in the bedroom as an inherited trait from his father, who he can only assume to be a "Bedroom Bully" as he is.

**Five Stars**

9. "Another One Program"

The horns which you would associated most with Reggae is found in this tune, and so it gets him able to reach out to his roots again as he still tries to progress things with his choice to go about half-rapping, and half toasting through the record. You simply cannot doubt the effectiveness of the tune as it clearly finds him making the most out of it and making funky groove which must have tore up the dance halls at the time.

**Five Stars**

10. "Ready-Ready, Goody-Goody"

The production in this one reflects his new-found Hip Hop influence as this one gets him taking on a classic James Brown sample to hype him up as he does a tune which has him one of my best from the album. The melodies in this one are jus too much in it, and the way that the producer seems to work perfectly in time with the this to break it down makes you clearly realise the strength of his vocal flows.

**Five Stars**

11. "Two Breddens"

In order to continue the heavy Hip Hop influence on his music, you find that Shabba chooses to do one with Chubb Rock, the then-Crooklyn Dodgers member. For me it was clearly successful in what it does, in comparison to a lot of the others who try this, it sounds as if the Chubbster was actually alright at toasting, and made the tune good at what it was designed to do.

**Four Stars**

12. "5-F Man"

Ending the album off, you have a track which just kills it, as ever so he shows consistency through the whole of the album. The melodies are right in-tune with the type of thing which all the other key players in this field were coming with, and he makes sure that it works well with him as he tries to remember the girls he has been with, and how much he spend on them over the duration of the relationships.

**Five Stars**

This is a big album from Shabba, and as I saw it he was very good at moving swiftly on from the more commercial tunes towards something which did produce a short-lived fad of collaborations between Dancehall and Hip Hop acts (which to some degree has come back recently too). For the Dancehall, it is of the highest quality, and he does all he can to make developments to it in the way that only he can.  

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