6. Hillside – Chronic Lawsafsaf
‘Rather deh pon a hillside, Weh nobody no deh fi turn to
Rather deh pon a hillside, Than deh ’round people weh will hurt you’
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Chronic Law’s ‘Hillside’ takes the song #6 spot on our ReggaeMania.com Top 10 Songs of 2019 Dancehall Chart. On YouTube, it currently sports 5.5 Million views. This St. Thomas artist, Ackeme ‘Chronic Law’ Campbell, can be congratulated for releasing one of the most refreshing songs of last year, refreshing because when you hear it, it’s immediately likeable and captures one’s attention, making you want to hear more from this sing-jay.
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‘Hillside’, one of Chronic Law’s best composed conscious efforts of last year, is about one’s temporary escape, both mentally and physically, from the harshness and pressures of garrison living. It is a reference to an unpopulated safety zone of sorts, where protection comes from one’s isolation and camouflage offered by escape to the Jamaican hillside, far from society, and safe from its predators and Babylonian laws.
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‘Rather deh pon a hillside, Hillside with no friends, nigga
Rather run from wild hog than friend killer, Rather sleep inna tree weh picherrie put dem nest inna’
Production wise – ‘
Hillside’ is the simplest of compositions, appearing to be they type of song that can be produced, voiced and packaged for reggae radio stations world wide, top dee-jays and sound crews, as well as to leading streaming services like
Spotify and
Apple Music, all within a few hours.
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‘Hillside’ is styled with a very basic underlying drum pattern, a repetitive two-chord guitar loop, and then Chronic Law’s sweet, charismatic ‘weeping’ vocals where the tone alone is a symbol of the pain and struggle coming with the experience of ghetto living.
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Popular Jamaican artists the likes of Sizzla, Anthony B, Bushman, Luciano and Capleton are examples of artists already famous for at times, mysteriously disappearing for extended periods, and journeying to these same ‘hills’ to meditate and find salvation, total isolation, protection. Usually, its often a religious and spiritually uplifting journey to achieve a re-charging of one’s batteries, to free up oneself, to escape from technology, electronics, wi-fi, the media, the daily hustle and bustle. There is just something special about what the ‘hills’ have to offer – most of us will never know what happens there, and the experience and journey is more than likely unique for every artist.
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Chronic Law, born December December 17 1993, is not only a current leading member of Mo Bay’s talented ‘6ix‘ crew, he’s also their most talented lyricist. Since 2018, he and the ‘6ix’, with leader Squash, has been in part responsible for creating the new trap-dancehall sound taking over Jamaica, where traditional reggae riddims have been removed and replaced with modest trap-styled beats, and the practice is for artists to ‘rush’ out new songs with a speed and consistency, nearly matching the pace set by record holder Vybz Kartel.
Chronic Law, signed to
East Syde Records in Palm Beach, is a one-man music factory. His philosophy resembles a jackpot approach, the more coins you put in the slot, the greater your chance of winning; just like in the re-modeled dancehall-reggae music biz we see now, where, as before-mentioned, artists sacrifice music quality in order to get their songs out to the people the fastest.
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Chronic Law himself, may be an example this new way of thinking, his vault is full, new songs are released by him at rapid pace, and he’s rumoured to be in possession of over 100 songs since premiering in 2018. The good news for Chronic Law is that to date, his methods and approach as a new artist in the industry is working, and nobody is complaining about the quality of his music. On the contrary, people love the way this artist sounds, and can hardly wait for more good songs to be released from the vaults.
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The ReggaeMania.com Award for Song #6 on our Top 10 Songs of 2019 Dancehall Chart goes to Chronic Law for ‘Hillside’. Congrats Chronic Law.
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