Jahvillani: ‘Dirt To Bentley’ Album Review
Jamaican deejay Jahvillani’s charged, contemplative debut introduces the artist as a capable Dancehall tastemaker. Marked by his creative flow, the 13 track record maps the 26-year-old’s rags-to-riches story — how he carved his own lane in the genre from life’s rocky roads. Now that he’s up to speed, the album centers around the spoils of his short time in the limelight and the lessons that lined his path to luxury. Features from smooth crooner Kranium, Trinibad star Prince Swanny and East Syde Prince Skillibeng diversify the suite’s sonic appeal with verses that weave between hope and the high life.
Dirt to Bentley was recorded in Jamaica with production from Tevin “YGF” Richards (for YGF Records), Adrian “Mastermind” Martin Lawrence, Ridwaan Razak and Jahvillani. Borrowing on everything from R&B to Afrobeats, the tracks take Jahvillani’s introspection skywards, even if all too familiar lyrical concepts — girls, guns, and ganja — hold it back to some extent.
Opener 1Gov’t Bad.Ness cuts right to the chase with chilling punchlines over a grime-inspired beat. “Full ah explosives, gas station/ Mi nuh act, I’m not Matt Damon,” Jahvi declares slyly over thumping bass.
Jahvillani and New York-based Dancehall star Kranium chart their successes on the title track Dirt to Bentley, naming all the perks of a champagne lifestyle. Their double-whammy delivery includes a few tired tropes (“big body Benz, moolah”, x-rated antics), but like Jahvi’s cover art Fendi fit, the project still seems perfectly tailored. Despite the well-worn Dancehall clichés, Dirt to Bentley reveals its depths in due course.
Up next is the slick and sexual trio of songs for the women who love the Wile Side: the Skillibeng-assisted Smooth , Love At First Sight, and Dat Way. Powerful Vibe proves the self-styled “vilest West Indian” can switch to ‘lover boy’ with striking ease: “And if I should die tonight/ Would you be mine fi life?/ Baby yuh mek mi feel brand new/ There’s nothin that we can’t do”, he sings on the bouncy YGF Records riddim.
When he loses the love game on the well-placed follow-up track, Broken, pain makes him twice as lyrical — “I don’t wanna be the one who’s prejudiced/ But you ain’t nothing but a devil b—h/ Fast life and fancy stuff/ She wanna live in utopia,” he laments.
As the suite winds down, Pro-Gress picks up on his rise to fame with bars that match the album title. “From a dollar to a mil/ From di ghetto now we inna Bugatti/ Every pretty gyal ah look at mi/ An every man ah look ah ting” he rhymes, before another nod to his hustle mentality on the Afrobeat-influenced GOD.ly. “Gyal ah send one bag a text message/ But me really ah pree how fi mek 10 mil,” he candidly tells listeners.
The album’s last two tracks, Journey and Jahvi 3:16, are deep reflections on the distance between dirt-poor beginnings and Bentley status. Memories of his one-room dwelling, single pair of shoes and constant bad news flow freely as Mr. Wile Side ditches his fiery cadence to convey some personal truths. “Mi been through storm and fire/ But di Messiah nuh leff out da bwoy yah/ Man haffi stay sturdy/ Protect me pon mi journey cause mi know mi worthy,” he sings.
With as many flex anthems as compelling affirmations, Dirt to Bentley gets a 3/5 rating. The rearview mirror glimpse into Jahvii’s past puts his “bold like caps lock” ambition and the payoff into perspective, while his potential has him all set to cruise into the next chapter of his career.