Pura Vida and The Congos: “We Nah Give Up”

I cannot get enough of the new album by Pura Vida and The Congos. In my opinion, this is the best roots reggae album released since Stephen Marley‘s modern classic “Revelation: The Root of Life.”

Many are calling “We Nah Give Up” the natural successor of one of the most outstanding classic roots & culture albums, the Lee Perry produced “Heart Of The Congos.” Not that it outmatches or even matches “Heart Of The Congos” throughout, but it includes enough efforts that come very close to the best tracks of that classic album to justify such a statement.

I am of the opinion that “Congo Ashanti“ is a worthy follow-up to to The Congos’ deput album. That being said, The Congos new effort with Belgian reggae collective Pura Vida is a worthy follow-up to Congo Ashanti.

The mystique of the album comes not only from the music, but from the fact that the album was released only on vinyl. The first pressing sold out in weeks, and a second pressing was released. It is now available as a digital download on many sites, including www.amazon.com and http://lostarkmusic.org.

musical-iration — Pura Vida w/ Ashanti Roy

Make no mistake about it, The Congos & Pura Vida have created a masterpiece. The dub tracks alone are worth the full price of the album. Looks like its finally time to remove “Congo Ashanti” from the player. “We Nah Give Up” will be repeating in my car for the entire summer.