Recorded at the Studio Oasis (Reunion Island) in August 1990 Ras Natty Baby and the Natty Rebels released an album like never heard before on the Island. Both musically and lyrically this album is a masterpiece of Mauritian music and one of the greatest Seggae album ever released. This album took the genre that Kaya and Racin Tatan pioneered to different heights.
Born in the island of Rodrigue (700 km from Mauritius), Ras Natty Baby is the other great seggae artist of the nineties. He draws his inspiration from the Rastafarian philosophy, local Sega rhythms, reggae and the harsh social and economic realities that surrounded the singer and the creoles community. In the Petite Rivière community where he lived, he set up his Natty Rebels, a band that enjoyed widespread success as a modern expression of the Creoles people which has felt marginalised and repressed for decades.
Ras Natty Baby musical career was shattered when in 2004 he was arrested, accused of smuggling heroin in the local community. In 2007 he was arrested again for the same crime which he pleaded guilty to the court in 2009 and was incarcerate for 30 month in prison.
However Nuvel Vision has all the ingredients to make a classic album. The first track that gives name to the album “Nuvel Vision” that means “new vision”, he introduce Mauritian people to the seggae that is a meltdown of local sega and Jamaican reggae stating “nouvo lamizik/ nouvo vibration/ nuvel vision/ couler larc en ciel/ Mauritian ek zamaikain/ fin zoin ensam/ nu apel sa seggae/ sega-reggae/ zot kouma deux frère/ nu ti separe/ zordi zot fin zoine”. This means that seggae is for everyone and sega and reggae were once brothers and were separated and now they have joined again referring to black people as Africans that were separated during slavery and now have met again through music.
The second track “Rastafari” I remember was playing out loud in the citée where I grew up in the nineties when the album first came out and was a hit amongst the youth. The Seggae imprint is profound on this track with the hypnotic chords of the keyboard alternating with the guitar followed by the deep bass and the drum in up-tempo fused with the Natty husky voice. This is an ode to Jah and the Rastafarians where he says“ croire dan so mystere/ croire dan so lamour” which means believe in his mystery and his love.
The Third track must be his most popular song “leve mo pep” where he hails the Mauritian to raise and stand up against all forces that are working to destroy Mauritian culture and divide the Mauritian people.
Overall this album is complete with songs that will put anyone in a good mood and bring the Mauritian sunshine to your living room, your car or your i pod. This album is a milestone of Mauritian music that every Mauritian artist should listen to before attempt to make music ensuring that the standard of their music match or surpass this album as too many young artists fail to do their homework before recording and often their final results is very poor. Only few artists have managed to take Ras Natty and Kaya's music tradition to the next level.
Credits:
Vocal: Ras Natty baby
Solo Guitar : Cledio Pierre Louis
Rythmique Guitare : Daniel Colidor
Acustic Guitar: Ras Nutty Baby
Syth: Richard Augustin
Keyboard: Benjamin Lallsing
Bass: Sylvio Magdeleine
Drums: Berty Pirogue
Congas & Bongos: Ras Levi
Bruitage: Eddy Joseph
Backing singers: Joe, Eddy, Ras Levi
Mixed by Sullivan Vally
Cover Design: Christian Messin
Tracklist
1. Nuvel Vision
2. Rastafari
3. Léve mo pep
4. zom
5. Mo la mosik
6. Nu zwen ansam
7. Linzistis
8. Mwin p'ti mazambik
