Track Listing

1. Haters and Fools
2. Ola - Beenie Man,
3. Love Me Now [Rockwilder Remix] - Beenie Man, Wyclef Jean, Redman
4. Girls Dem Sugar - Beenie Man, Mya
5. Crazy Notion
6. Original Tune
7. Jamaica Way - Beenie Man,
8. Love Me Now - Beenie Man, Wyclef Jean
9. Art and Life
10. Analyze This
11. Heights of Great Men
12. 9 to 5
13. Trus Me
14. Tumble (La Caida) - Beenie Man, Arturo Sandoval
15. Some Tonight - Beenie Man, Devonte, Tanto Metro
16. Best That I Got
17. I've Got a Date

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #192696 in Music
• Released on: 2000-07-11
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Amazon.com
Warning: Art and Life is Beenie Man's "fusion" album--an attempt to stretch the boundaries of reggae. Those who like their dancehall straight up may find themselves unimpressed. The Art Beenie has created sounds slightly artificial. It's extremely disconcerting to hear "de girls dem sugar" spouting off about "fake-a$$ n**@s," as he does on the "Hate Me Now"-esque "Haters and Fools."

Thematically, the album is all over the place with an emphasis on mainstream hip-hop and R&B. Apparently Beenie called in his favors for this one. Art features a whole heap of high-profile guest stars, who don't really add anything spectacular to the mix. Two better-deserving Jamaican vocalists could've easily replaced R&B princesses Mya and Kelis. Wyclef's "eclectic" persona is abrasive and Redman's contribution to "Love Me Now" actually manages to come off as offensive. On the plus side, Beenie and the Cherry Poppin' Daddies' Steve Perry score with "Ola," a groovy little reversal of Sugar Ray and Supercat's "Fly." --Rebecca Levine

Customer Reviews

Remedy for Hip Hop/Reggae Fans
Though not an avid reggae fan, the credit given for me to plunk down the cash for this CD was attributed to "Girls Dem Sugar" featuring R&B star Mya. After listening to that single, I just had to see what else Beenie Man had to offer in his latest album, "Art and Life". As the album title states, Beenie Man's ability to incorporate reggae with hip hop is indeed an art in and of itself though definitely not a new concept (I guess anything is better than listening to Snow). I enjoyed tracks like "Haters and Fools", "Jamaica Way", and my personal favorite, the "Love Me Now" remix featuring The Funk Doctor Spock, Redman, himself and Wyclef Jean. As a hip hop caterer, this album may not have enough flavor to switch me into a hardcore reggae fan or even vice versa for reggae lovers, but by combining the two musical worlds, I guess small doses of it may change that one day. After all, they do combine the taste of cherry with cough syrup to mask the medicine's real flavor. So in a sense, "Art and Life" is hip-hop flavored reggae or reggae flavored hip hop. Either way, it can be ingested by the pure hip hop or reggae fan.

good mix of influences
If you're a dancehall purist, stop right now. This is not your thing. But Beenie Man has integrated a very unusual set of influences for this CD, making dancehall music more accessible to people who maybe haven't been exposed to the reggae vibe before. His words and style are powerful. This is definately worth checkin out but bring ya open mind and ya open ears.

Beenie Man tries something different... again
Beenie Man has been an innovator his entire career so I don't understand the outcry about his new sound in some of his songs. The whole fun of Beenie Man is you never know what he'll come up with. He has a freaking country-western track for pete's sake! And it's good! In this world of manufactured pop garbage, thank god there are still guys like Beenie Man around who aren't afraid to push the boundaries and try something new.

Moving on, I'd like to talk about a couple tracks that stood out to me. 1)Haters and Fools- This is a classic dancehall track, it's a pretty good way to start the album.
2)Ola- This song starts will a little piano riff and then all of the sudden the bass comes in. It's a great moment that you have to hear. These moments are why we listen to music.
3)Love Me Now (Remix) - I really like the remix, but I really don't like Redman's performance here. It sounds like he just put something together at the last moment.
4)Love Me Now (Original)- Wyclef and Beenie make a great team. How long until they put out an album together a la Tanto Metro & Devonte? How cool would that be? Everyone write your congressman, this must happen.
5)Some Tonight- I hate to say it but Tanto Metro's performance on this track is so good he outshines Beenie! No one ever outshines Beenie Man! (With the exception of Machel Montano in "UFOs", of course. Machel rules in that song.)
6)I've Got a Date- Beenie Man should sing more.