WORLD CLASH 2005

10-08 NYC 2005

by Eyewitness

On Saturday October 8th, the Elite Ark in Brooklyn, NYC hosted World Clash 2005. Contenders this year were 2003 & 2004 winners Black Kat from Jamaica, 2001 winners Bass Odyssey (Jamaica), 1999 winners Mighty Crown (Japan), Immortal (UK), Desert Storm (Canada) and Sentinel from Germany. After the order in which the sounds would play was decided, the clash began.

ROUND 1

Mighty Crown started the vibes, featuring many of the top-reggae tunes from the course of the past year, like Gyptian's "Serious Times", Turbulence's "Notorious", Fantan Mojah's "Hungry" and Jah Cure's "Longing For". They also ran thru some tracks on the Hard Times beat by I-Wayne, Bascom X & Capleton. Some big guns & a decent performance but nothing too spectacular. Solid.

Worm & Damien were in charge of the tuff Bass Odyssey sound, with Squingy rumored to be suffering from cancer & taking a time-out. Hope its not permenantly. I remember them running nuff tunes on the Showtime & Fresh riddims & other vintage Odyssey foundation material, which theres plenty of to draw from. Good crowd-response to this "new" tag-team.

From the get-go it seemed as if UK's Immortal were heading down the same road that other UK sounds had taken at World Clash (losing BADLY-basically getting their ass KICKED!). They did get some forwards from Hopeton James' classic "I'm In The Mood To Kill A Sound" as well as from a Bounty I cant remember.

Desert Storm kicked things off with Junior Gong's "Welcome To Jamrock"-custom built for World Clash 2005, yet failed to get much of anything for it. If even a Marley (on the biggest reggae tune of the past year) couldn't move NYC at ALL, then it certainly looked sticky for the Canadians. They rounded things off with standards, like Anthony Johnson's "Every Night Is A Sound Clash". Not too impressive!

Germany's Sentinel were next and they picked up where Mighty Crown left off: making a good impression with some brannew/red-hot dubplates like Marlon Asher's "Ganja Farmer". They counter-acted Mighty Crowns "Serious Times" from Gyptian, as well as Jah Mason's "Princess Gone". They also got a nice forward for a Beres Hammond & then mashed up the Ark with Leftside & Esco's massive "Tuck In Yuh Belly" amd Kartel's tuff "Emmergency". Good round for Sentinel, who avoided the loser-label that had already been attached to Immortal & Desert Storm.

Black Kat, 2003 & 2004's world-champion with selecta Panther acted sure of achieving yet another victory in 2005. Yet the selections on the Far East & the Punanny riddims were followed by some boos, so it might not be so easy for the Jamaican county-sound this time around. His biggest forward came from Junior Kelly's "Receive".

No eliminations yet, but it seemed as if the crowd was favoring Sentinel in round 1.

ROUND 2 (10 minutes):

Mighty Crown showed some humor next, playing the yardie comedy team Twin Of Twins mimicking US comedian Bernie Mac & dissing all the other sounds. They followed up with some of their big dubs by Cocoa Tea & Cocoa Tea alongside Bounty Killer, yet failed to create the hype that they are usually known for. Not such a great 2nd round for the Japanese, as they started receiving some boos.

Bass Odyssey counteracted them with a Cocoa Tea of their own & played some hardcore artists on the Sick riddim (Bounty, Cham, Cobra and more). Considering Squingy was not there to lead the sound, Worm & Damien did quite well, stating Bass Odyssey is the busiest sound and the only one to get 5 bookings in a single night.

Immortal tried to get Mighty Crown in trouble for their weak 2nd round, yet failed to do so. As they counteracted Crown's "Hungry" with "Soundboy A Go Dead Now" they got NO response. They then featured some material on the Hypocites riddim & popped down even worse, failing to get any response from the crowd and it was evident that they would be one of the first 2 sounds to be eliminated.

Desert Storm ran nuff Bounty Killer tracks next, trying to prove their badness as a sound, yet flopped as well. They switched mc's but to no avail. Desert Storm also played back a Cobra which Immortal had already featured & that was THAT. They would be DONE after this round as well.

Sentinel came storming back in with a custom-built NYC special from local artist Splicer which got a good forward. They also played a CRUCIAL Admiral Bailey/Shabba combination that had Brooklyn WEAK. They sacked in BIG forwards for a Beenie Man on a soca riddim and Vybez Kartel's mean "I Neva". Crucial round from the Germans, who proved that they were here to stay.

Black Kat returned, digging deep in their dubplate box. They rotated a number of selections on the Answer riddim (Fender & Wayne Wonder & Chronicle I remember) and got far too big forwards for their vintage stuff (in my opinion).

At the end of the round, it was decided that Immortal and Desert Storm were eliminated. Nothing wrong with that; it was evident that this would be the result after 2 rounds.

ROUND 3 (10 minutes):

Mighty Crown surprisingly acknowledged that they played weak in the 2nd round as Sammy T joined Simon mc'ing . They played a rare Israel Vibration dub (first time I've EVER heard one), a vintage tune from the late-great Nicodemus, yet they WRECKED the Ark with a Shabba Ranks/Buju Banton combo (Ready Fi Di War/No Disrespect). They played all kinda big guns, ranging from Bob Andy/Marcia to Tony Matterhorn/Busy Signal combos. This is the way I KNOW Mighty Crown; ready to KILL soundbwoys and I thought this was a great round for them; possibly the BEST for the entire clash so far.

Bass Odyssey continued to live off their Biltmore throwbacks. Bounty, Bounty & more vintage Bounty. NY didn't wanna argue with that but didn't seem that excited about it either. They completed their round with a Johnnie Osbourne/Michael Buckley combo. OK round for them, but would it be enough?