Gwen Stefani Reintroduces Herself With Reggae
Gwen Stefani’s Reggae song Let Me Reintroduce Myself has been met with overwhelming enthusiasm by her fans.
The Latin-tinged single, which is her first solo song since 2016, debuted at number six before skyrocketing to number one on the all-genre US iTunes sales chart, less than 24 hours after the songstress released the track and performed it during last Monday’s edition of The Voice, on which she serves as a coach.
Let Me Reintroduce Myself also charted in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Australia, Canada and Brazil.
Fans are particularly gleeful that the 51-year-old has returned to what they describe as her Reggae/Ska roots, which defined her breakthrough in the 1990s as the leader of the band No Doubt, after having dabbled in several other genres over the last few years.
As lead singer for No Doubt, Gwen was part the band’s Grammy Award-winning collaborations featuring Jamaican dancehall icons Lady Saw and Bounty Killer.
The collab Hey Baby with Bounty Killer copped the Grammy award for Pop performance by a duo or Group with Vocal in 2003 and took home a similar award a year later with Underneath it All featuring Lady Saw.
According to Gwen in a Billboard interview, she wanted to resume doing what she described as ‘happy music’, the result of which was Let me Reintroduce Myself.
The singer told Billboard that she had not set a definitive time for the release of a new solo album, even though she “probably has about 19 or 20 songs already written”.
Stefani is quoted in a press release as explaining that the “song is a way of saying I’m back with new music” and that “the idea was to write a song that had a bit of a nostalgic feeling to it, so I think musically it reminds you of back in the day, going back to where I started musically which was with Ska and Reggae”.
The resounding hoorahs from her fans though about the fact that she has returned to Reggae, is indication that Stefani has scored bigtime. Some said they loved the reggae vibes, described the song as a perfect mix of her reggae No Doubt roots and pop, while others like Wandering Eyes 4ever lauded it as an ‘absolutely amazing song’.
“This song is a great way of recycling back to her original roots. This was fire and I’m glad she’s back!” he noted.
“I have tbh, I was very nervous what direction this was gonna go in. But I am soo happy with this reggae sound!! Hell yes Gwen! I love you!!” one fan Joanie Lopez, wrote on YouTube where Gwen had posted the lyric video.
“I love this song Gwen, I have missed you and you ska reggae music, please make more and you never have to reintroduce yourself to me, you were never forgotten,” noted Style B.
Others contended that Gwen had not been forgotten and needed no reintroduction, as she has always been amazing.
“I have been jamming to this song since it dropped earlier today. It’s catchy and lighthearted. It definitely fulfills the old school nostalgia. No reintroduction needed. We see you, girl!!” Aida Baumgardner said.
Others like Dizzy Bizzy, contended that her return to Reggae was long overdue.
‘I’m hearing no doubt and sugar ray vibes in this Gwen is about time she came back to her reggae/ska roots,” he noted, while Xxcentrika noted that it was: “About time she came back w her original style. Not so much into country music.”