Mutabaruka
Any Which Way...Freedom
Album · Reggae · 1989
On this hard-hitting album, you'll hear Mutabaruka's trademark scorching political lyrics—but his musical and lyrical reach goes beyond partisan invective. "Revenge" sets a chilling tale of police brutality to an unlikely calypso backing. The anti-coke and pro-labour sentiments of "Drug Kulcha (5 Years After)" and "H2 Worka (For the Farm Workers of Jamaica)" are pumped up by harder-edged, guitar-driven rhythms. And the most pointed track, "Letter from a Friend", on which he takes an oppressor's voice, needs no musical backing at all.