Mira Craig - Tribal Dreams

I was excited to recently come into ownership of Mira Craig's second album, most of you recall my overly raving review of the Norwegian hotness in a can's debut album, and I was waiting for her second time around to see if the queen of do it yourself music could return with the same or better then she did the first time around, and I must tell you, she did not disappoint, as I assumed she wouldn't, she did infact, grow, there is alot of maturity and growth in this second release Tribal Dreams, and I assume that she will continue to grow. There are heavy influences of American hip hop, Eurodance, Drum and Bass, and like 5 different types of Latin music, obviously her time on tour with American and Spanish acts through out Europe has helped her... well more then that knee shattering stagedive did anyway.

Now lets get into the album itself shall we? It starts out with an introduction track as most albums do, I rather like this because its very dark and sinister (more sinister then Nathanial Essex even!) drum and bass meets horror movie score kind of thing with Mira's eerie upper range mixed in for a chorus of just the right feel. The first actual track on the album is "Dada", a very upbeat jazzy bass track thats very dance friendly, sure the track is about sex and the lyrics are very suggestive in their own unconventional way, but still, an awesome track. The second track is "Leo" the defining track of the album, don't get all wigged out, I just mean defining in this is the track that you'll be hearing for years in clubs nonstop, not that its the peak of the disc, Leo is your standard issue club dance track that is gonna get women all over the world up on the dancefloor shaking the junk in their trunks better then any song this year will, the track just drips pools of American hip hop and Latin dance all over the floor around your speakers. The next track is "Fatty Girl" another song thats gotten alot of air play through out the world, well the world thats not the US anyway, damn US radio and its blandness, this track is very American hip hop influenced, you can hear alot of her time touring with Snoop Dogg in this one, even over its thick guitar heavy dirty south style beat that blows the top of your head off, the heartbeat baseline ending is awesome as well. The next song is "Dream", a very nice acoustic guitar and bass track which has Mira proving again the differences in her range, she goes from her normal deep vocal to her higher church chorus vocal range as well, she runs the whole gambit in a very nice love song about her dreams of this guy who she's really into. Thats followed by "Look At Me Now" a very sexy song, akin to snake charmer off her first album, that sexy Turkish/Trinidad traditional meets club beat over a very sexy song thats also one of her more empowering and positive songs, I love how she can mix lyrics about being a strong woman and enough sexuality to remind you just how this song is ment to be danced too into one song so perfectly. Next is "I'm So Ghetto" the beat is something like a mix of dirty south American rap and something like Jill Scott, which might not sound right, but I have to tell you, this works, she also pays homage to her father's home of Baton Rouge Louisiana on this, the track might sound like a skip over or album filler to some, but I see it for what it is, an experiment and attempt to grow her style and grow as an artist, I love it just for that alone. Its followed up with "Run and Hide" which is kind of mix of tribal, call and response and angry American hip hop, the beat to this track is just so amazing, the chorus is as well, a definite favorite. This is followed by "What My Name" one of those tracks that is just booming high level blast out of your speakers awesome, very much in this new club meets hip hop and Latin and jamacian dancehall that Mira has created through out this disc, this is kind of the song you expect to see a fight scene or a boxing match between two women set too, its just complete booming bad ass kick you in the mouth and make you spit out teeth music, I love it! Next is "Tell Me", which is as close to a downtempo track as you'll get on this album, its very sexy and very seductive in its own way, this is the kind of song you see a very hot sex scene in one of those movies where the whole time you're waiting for the two main characters to get together, its almost to sexy for this album really, meaning that it almost doesn't fit the feel of the rest of it, if that makes sense. The last song is "My Lion King", another of the sexy bass heavy Turkish/Trinidad snake charmer style slow dance tracks mixed with bit of europian traditional guitar and African drums in there as well, and unfortunately, when you're all prepped up and ready for a second disc, it doesn't happen, the album ends on this track and you're left wanting more.

As a whole I believe Tribal Dreams is a big step forward for Mira as an artist, she's kept true to what made her stand out to me from the first album, built upon that and made it more polished as well as infused more international styles learned from those who she's worked with the world over, and added more drum and bass and club style tracks to her arsenal as well. My only complants about the album would be there is no slower side, last time around we had afew slow, almost diva style R&B tracks that show Mira's vocal range with out the booming and swelling backing music, i did miss that given that she really has an incredible range, I was also hoping for atleast one track with someone else, not saying that Mira needs help or anything because she most definitely does not, but it would be interesting at this point to see what Snoop Dogg or Wyclef or Timberland or one of the other musicians she's met and gained the respect of the world over could do side by side with her, I was almost fiending for maybe a middle eastern style dance track with Nancy Ajram or Ruby, or a reggatron track with Ivy Queen (sorry Tamara lol), or maybe a Japanese style dance track with Ayumi Hamasaki, or even one of them all girl hip hop remixes with maybe MC Trey, Mia Jupiter, Jean Grae, and afew other under respected and unknown to most female rappers.. but in any event, the album is still a great leap forward and an incredible listen.

Do I think this album is for everyone? Hell yes. Mira makes some of the best music in the modern era and has never been a let down for me, add to it that she's the best selling do it yourself artist, meaning she makes everything and records in her home all by herself, that just adds to the awesomeness that she has and shows just how dedicated to her craft she is. That alone deserves respect, if not atleast giving her your ear for alittle while. I said it before and I still say it now, I want and expect big things from her and many years of music as well, I don't think i'm gonna be let down. Give her a try if you haven't already.



Tribal Dreams by Mira Craig

Artist: Mira Craig
Album Tribal Dreams
Genre: Dancehall,Drum and Bass,Hip Hop,Latin House,Latin Dance,Reggatron,Eurodance,Turkish Dance,Trinidad Dance,Rap,DIY Music


By: BC