We Plug to You... Cris Cab - Foreword

So my editor sent this to me and I thought to myself, "what does this preppy looking kid from Miami know about Reggae music?". Still, I downloaded because the Boss knows me well enough to know what songs excite me. My thoughts after listening were exactly this…“He cannot be 18, who writes for him, OMG This boy is amazing, he will surely get it”.

You know what they say about not judging a book by its cover? Well it is the absolute truth - PLEASE do NOT do it guys and I should know this too. I confess I was one of those people who thought Adele was this black soulful singer from the Motor City somewhere and I promised myself once I found that to be the contrary, to never be so judgmental again, but “oops, I did it again”.  Without further ado, I have the ultimate pleasure of plugging to you Cris Cab - 18 year old Cuban singer/songwriter from Miami, Florida and his exceptional recently released debut EP – Foreword.

Lets just start from the beginning, shall we?

The first track off of Foreword is a song titled “Good Girls” and it is undoubtedly my favorite on this EP - I mean everything about this song is awesome, from the vocals to the guitar/drums instrumentation to the song's lyrics. Let me repeat that, AWESOME. It has that Jason Mraz feel to it and his voice reminds me of John Mayer. I really don’t know what else to say. How do you explain in words, what your heart feels and the joy in it? The only way to express such emotions for me is by dancing, and that’s what I’m doing right now seated, just grooving, moving my body, pausing every so often just to edit the mistakes I’m making as I type.

“Hey man, I’ve learnt my lessons. Got a good girl, count your blessings. Instead of spending them up on sexing. Good girls don’t grow on trees”

Cris Cab - Black And Yellow

Ordinarily I wouldn’t put the above track as the second track to plug from Foreword, as it is a refix of Wiz Khalifa’s huge single “Black and Yellow”. I have heard at least ten versions of this song plus almost every Nigerian artist I know has a cover/remake of this song and lets not talk about other artists from all around the world. Acapella, R&B, Hip-Hop versions, we've heard them all BUT I have simply not heard it done like this. I would never be able to listen to the original version again without thinking of this version. The video for this has received over half a million views on Youtube. I mean, they managed to play the saxophone on this track - where they do that at? As an aside, you should go on YouTube to listen to his cover of Kanye West's “All Of The Lights”. Amazeballs!

It is no wonder then that Grammy Award-winning rapper, singer, producer and composer Pharell Williams has taken Cris under his wings already and is working with the young guitarist, lyricist, pianist and song writer. Cris is definitely already far ahead of the game, way above his years and has found a niche different from what the young artists of his generation are doing. That impresses me more than anything else about him. Its so refreshing in this day and age to find a young man who doesn’t seem to be just part of the crowd and is rather doing his own thing.

Cris Cab - Take You Away

This right here is my sooooooong. The slow pace, reggae infused rhythm of this song has me in love. Can this boy croon or what? “Take You Away” is a story of love told the way only this young man can. So innocent and without games or gimmicks, just a boy telling the girl he likes her and will be there for her even after the girl left him. The production on this song is so great as well 

“Loving you is like a summer’s day, take all of my pain and my stress away and for all of that I feel I must say, that you are truly beautiful in every single way”

All 7 songs on Foreword having a running time of only 25 minutes which is way too short, unfair and leaves you craving for more and more we've been promised as Cris readies his debut album for a Fall release. As such, I must stop here and ask, plead, implore you to download Foreword down below, it will be worth it - trust me!

I think Cris Cab is definitely the future, especially in the world of Reggae/Pop music because lets face it we have not heard of a lot of new up and coming artists doing what Cris Cab is doing. I think he has a great appeal that will see him crossover not only into American mainstream markets, but also the UK and across the globe. I want to know what you guys think though, so please leave your feedback in the comments section.

Download: Cris Cab - Foreword EP // (Sound Cloud)

Keep Tabs on Cris Cab: Facebook // Twitter // Website

Till Next Time

Peace, Love and GOOD music.

Neefemi