Assassin

It's hard to believe that Gully Sit'n is only Assassin's second album, given the impact he's already had over the course of his still-brief career. At this point, his success is mainly due to his skill at delivering a set of already established formulas: he hasn't yet figured out how to distinguish himself completely from the other lover-lover, gunsman, ghetto-lifestyle dancehall dons, but he's still young and there are hints of originality starting to emerge from the standard-issue lyrical tropes: on this album you'll find them if you skip past the waste-of-time intro track and skim through the faux-radio interview (featuring a weirdly vituperative monologue from an uncredited Mutabaruka), at which point you'll come across an interesting experiment in 6/8 time ("Girls Alone We Want"), the eerie "Bad Man," a nicely smoldering combination track with Tash ("Wanna Love You Baby"), and the absolutely brilliant "Don't Dis No Man," on which he delivers startlingly good-hearted lyrics with razor-sharp rhythmic acumen over a spare, muscular rhythm. This being a modern dancehall album, there is of course a surfeit of filler (such as the tedious "Anywhere We Go" and the mediocre title track), but Assassin gets bonus points for delivering this year's Most Original Pickup Line in a Reggae Song: "Gal, you no boring." Recommended. [This edition of Gully Sit'n features bonus tracks.] ~ Rick Anderson, All Music Guide