RAS BANAMUNGU
& The Det-n-ators International
HUSH HUSH BIZ SINGLE REVIEW
Cherry Oh Queen
Ras Banamungu and The Det-n-ators International enjoyed a notable year in 2021, with the success of the album Revelation of Oneness and the singles, the album’s title track and Hallelu Jah. Cherry Oh Queen is the follow-up to Shakalaka-Doo Experience, which was an exhilarating high-energy track that merged Afro roots and blues music to create an enticing mixture, one that undoubtedly anticipates a modified musical direction the renowned musician is taking. The power of Shakalaka-Doo Experience emanated from the almost carnivalesque nature of the core elements, the melodic hooks, the rhythms and the instrumentation, set against an overdriven sonic undertow. Cherry Oh Queen relies on a less hybridized distillation of music influences and looks to a slightly more traditional approach.
The new track will undoubtedly add to Ras’s list of accolades, which include the 2020 Artistic Vision award for exceptional talent of the year, originality, and vision in the field of music, the 2020 X- POZE-ING Music Award for Best Reggae Music Video, for My Sunshine and a series of hit tracks that have attracted substantial streaming numbers and across the board radio play. Cherry Oh Queen combines all the joyful strains of Ras’s imitable brand of contemporary world music pop, utilising infectious grooves and melodies and fusing it into what can only be described as a celebratory song of love. The track opens with a stomping, rhythmic groove that never lets up, revealing the various influences of reggae, roots music, and world pop that merge to create a good-natured, galvanic mood. The chorus will have you humming along in no time, with a few surprises along the way, including an alternate verse performance that contrasts fittingly with Ras’s lively vocal performance and the lyric’s theme. This is a dedication song, one utilising all the buoyant charms of Ras’ usual array of styles and approaches to music—one using an emotional core that mirrors the instrumentation and performances. Uplifting, irresistible, and heartening are just some of the words to describe Ras Banamungu and the Det-n-ators new track, Cherry Oh Queen.
