Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
Taking a little something from the broad tonal concepts in dancehall, surreal folk, and a whole lot of rhythm from contemporary reggae schools, Rocky Dawuni’s sound is its own beast without question, but it’s hardly an inaccessible beast in “Shade Tree.” Instead of coming into this latest release as hard and heavy as he can, as a lot of critics seemed to think he would back when his last video dropped, Dawuni takes a step back from the adrenaline and gives us something a little more casual and low-fidelity in this piece, sparing none of his trademark charisma along the way.
The whole postmodern reggae thing is starting to feel a lot more mainstream than it is indie, and to this end, we’re seeing this artist modify his sound to fit a more uniquely experimental picture. This is neither selling out nor stripping down the cosmetic frills of his sound, but rather proving once and for all that true beat-driven music lives and dies by your willingness to push the boundary a little more than you did the last time you were in a recording studio. “Shade Tree” is well-titled in this regard and a telling sign of what’s to come from this player’s output.
Abandoning surreal themes for a more cutting lyrical focus was only half the blueprint for this single; the other half is admitting that amalgamative aesthetics are going to serve Dawuni’s sound better than any purist design ever could. His vocal has more edge in this performance than I was originally expecting, and it’s largely because of how freeform his approach to the lyrics sounds
He isn’t bound to the politics of a specific scene nor the persona of a genre he’s trying to live within; the instruments embody minimalist notions but, outside of their contribution to the track, there’s no pigeonholing the foundational artistry of “Shade Tree.” Rocky Dawuni is learning to appreciate the roles of the subtler elements in his music and using even the minute details to convey an emotional presence that I do not hear enough of in mainstream reggae at all these days, nor in the whole of pop at the moment, to be frank.
“Shade Tree” is a more grown-up Dawuni than I thought I was going to find, but it’s also representative of a stealthier sonic profile that I want him to run with from here on out. Ghana has been producing some pretty hot beats throughout the year, and 2023 has only seen the competition around this player grow by leaps and bounds.
He doesn’t sound particularly intimidated by the scene-focused players blowing up around him, but instead really focused on developing the parts of his music that matter the most to him. The heartfelt passion in his sound becomes harder for us to resist here, and if it gets even stronger in the next release he drops, one has to wonder when the mainstream pop crowd is going to come around to his masterful hooks and meaningful lyricism. I’m already on board, and I think you will be thanks to the magnetizing “Shade Tree” this October.
Michael Haas
