Shabba Ranks Caan Dun: The Best Of Shabba CD

Digital B Studios and Music Works Studios, Kingston, Jamaica; Far East Digital Studio, New York, New York. Includes liner notes by Rob Kenner.

CAAN DUN is the most representative set of music available from the gravel-voiced Shabba Ranks, whose first decade of work yielded two Grammy awards and significant crossover success. Anyone who's ever heard a sample of Ranks' music probably has some sense of what makes it distinct: the timbre of synthesized bass, the frequent presence of guest vocalists, and Ranks' own stuttered, rapid-fire toasting.

Highlights of this two-disc collection include the randy cuts "Gal Yuh Good," "Telephone Love," and "Hardcore Lovin'." "Holding On," which features Home T. and Cocoa Tea, is another standout track, with a bouncy, upbeat feel and anthemic chorus. Of course, no Shabba Ranks collection could be complete without "Mr. Loverman," the song that in its remixed form helped launch Ranks to international stardom in the early '90s. The version included here is the original studio cut, with a vocal courtesy of Deborahe Glasgow.

Recorded at Jammys Recording Studio, Digital Recording Lab,

Compilation producers: David Sanguinetti, Derrick Moo-Young.

Personnel: Shabba Ranks (vocals).

Recording information: Digital Recording Lab, Kingston, Jamaica; Jammy's Recording Studios, Kingston, Jamaica; Music Works Studios, Kings.

Editors: Derrick Moo-Young; David Sanguinetti.

Photographers: Lee Abel; Brian Jahn; David Corio.

Personnel: Shabba Ranks, Home T., Cocoa Tea, Krystal, Etc., Deborahe Glasgow, Ninjaman, Admiral Tibbett, J.C. Lodge, Rebel Princess, Exzactly (vocals).

Producers include: Bobby "Digital" Dixon, King Jammys, Augustus "Gussie" Clarke, Michael Bennett, Patrick Lindsay.