Primarily a reggae band, 4th World originated from Vieux Fort, St. Lucia, and is considered one of the best reggae bands in the Eastern Caribbean.
4th World’s debut album, Can’t Stop Us, has been described as an “authentic brand of reggae music that takes you to the world of Steel Pulse, Third World, Peter Tosh and Bob Marley. But it is reggae music with a difference. It is fresh. It is a new sound. The arrangements are startlingly different to what has come before and so catches one by surprise. It is edgy music bursting with energy. It is music infused with the excitement of youth yet seemingly informed by history and the wisdom of age.”
Band members have explained that they didn’t set out to be a reggae band per se, much less to craft a new reggae sound. It was just that reggae was what sat best with how they live their lives and what was inside of them. Rather than pigeonholing themselves to one genre, they interpret their sound as simply the spontaneous blending of their creative energies. This openness towards music may help explain not only the power and originality of their music but also the multifariousness of it.
4th World’s music represents a special blend of reggae obtained from fusing roots reggae with dancehall, hi-hop, R&B, Blues and St. Lucia and Caribbean indigenous music. Therefore, although Can’t Stop Us, the album, remained true to the music of the likes of Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, there are songs veering towards dancehall and hip-hop, and others serving heavy doses of R&B, blues, jazz, rock, and traditional St. Lucian music.
Nijah “Cold Sweat” St. Catherine, who doubles as 4th World’s lead singer and one of its keyboardist, sings most of the band’s repertoire, and understandably so because some have said that he possesses one of the best voices in world reggae. After listening to Cold Sweat on Can’t Stop Us and witnessing one of his performances it would be hard to disagree. Yet Cold Sweat has admitted that dancehall, not reggae, was his first love, and it was much later, when he realized he had a talent for singing, that he got into reggae. Well, based on Cold Sweat’s compositions on Can’t Stop Us, the influence of dancehall, hip-hop and even R&B and funk are never far away. Not only are his songs on the album among the most up tempo, but those such as Can’t Stop Us, Power to Overcome, Persistence, Runaway, and Reggae Party come with equal blends of reggae and one or more of these other genres.
Genre aside, the 4th World sound is like none other. It cannot be manufactured, for it is music coming from a certain Caribbean island, from a certain town on that island, and from a certain locale or community of that town. The 4th World sound arose from the interplay of a unique set of environmental and cultural circumstances and artistic sensibilities. It couldn’t have been designed or planned. It was a natural, dialectic process that was several years in the making. Therefore 4th World and its music represents a net and unique addition to world music and culture.
4th World’s authenticity also derives from the fact that the music it creates and performs best describes and characterizes the lifestyle of its members. When 4th World performs, what the audience is getting isn’t just a group of guys coming together to play reggae. The audience is getting much more than that. They are getting a group of guys living the life of the music they are playing, they are seeing passion, artistic integrity, they are getting the real thing; not a group of guys playing music at odds with their lifestyle, or with their beliefs. Not a group of guys simply playing music to make a living. Music is their life.
Apparently, the uniqueness and authenticity of 4th World’s music and performances have great appeal, for not only is 4th World considered the best reggae band in St. Lucia but it is one of the most sought after bands particularly for events of national or cultural significance such as Emancipation Day Concerts, Musician Feast Concerts, Jounen Creole Festivities, New Year’s Day Concerts, National Telethon Concerts, and the Caribbean YouthFest Concert.
Moreover, since the band’s formation eight years ago, it has been a perennially performer at the St. Lucia Jazz Festival, the island’s most prestigious music festival, considered one of the best of its kind in the world, performing alongside such artist as John Legend, Taj Weekes, and Trey Songz. Internationally, 4th World has gained some recognition. In 2010 it was one of the featured bands at the Montreal International Reggae Festival.
And to cap it all, 4th World’s debut album, Can’t Stop Us, was the winner of the coveted St. Lucia National Arts Awards for Album of the year. 4th World is now in studios putting the finishing touches on their sophomore album. Critics and fans alike were amazed at the freshness, authenticity and originality of Can’t Stop Us, but with its sophomore album, 4th World promises to push the edge of the reggae envelope even further.
The Making of 4th World
