Album Notes

What is da Boom?

It is fourteen solid tracks of reggae, soca, hip-hop, African pop and other music composed and performed by popular local Florida bands. This album is the brainchild of producers Todd Beals and Eric Mason, both veteran performers on the Jacksonville, Orlando and Miami music scenes. The combination of Caribbean and American musicians working together in the Sunshine State has produced explosive results helping to coin the phrase "Florribean"...da Boom!

"Local CD of the week: Da Boom: Florida's Finest World Beat. In Jamaican slang, "da boom" means "the best"...[T]here's no denying that all 14 songs are good, with some being great." --- XS Magazine, The Scene, Ft. Lauderdale, April 23, 1996

"The album da Boom is a collection of fresh singles from Florida reggae groups. [It] has a peaceful, meditative feel ...The phrase "da Boom" is Jamaican slang for the best or the cream of the crop. This album lives up to
its name... Final grade: A+"--- The Jacksonville Times-Union, Reggae album truly is 'da Boom': Review, May 1, 1996

"The majority of these Florida bands play a more danceable form of reggae music. The exceptions being Ronnie G. with his excellent [soca track], World in Dub with their free-flowing Jamaican Dub style, Mystique with their silky-smooth vocals and catchy R&B flavoured reggae and... Windjammer's jazzy African-inspired rhythms... Johnny Dread appears on the cool roots-reggae song "Hammerin".... [Cornerstone's] song, "Move Off Satan", is one of the highlights of this fine release." [Rating: 3 1/2 stars out of five] " --- Jam Magazine, Jam's Guide To Independents: The Music of Florida Artists, Florida, June 7, 1996

"The production is quite good, with plenty of low end to move any lover of Island Music." --- Folio Weekly, Jacksonville April 23, 1996

"With so many African, Caribbean... influences washing ashore [in Florida], the musical spinoffs are bound to be inventive... Reel Sweet Records has released a
compilation CD of some Florida's finest groups working in a melange of world-beat genres... It' s a kicked-back, slicked-up group [of songs], with good clean production..."
--- The Sun-Sentinel, Ft. Lauderdale, May 19, 1996