Ghetto Fairytale - Mira Craig

Well its been awhile sense I've put up an album, but i thought what better way to come back then by dropping the third album by one of my personal favorites Mira Craig on y'all. Now then, lets get down into this...

As many of you know Mira Craig is abit of an oddity in music, she's the first "do it yourself" artist to reach the number one spot in any country, and the first to do it multiple ones as well. By "Do It Yourself" I mean she started out making beats and recording songs on her laptop and home pc, something she still does alot of, to keep herself true to her form. She also writes and produces for other artists now, as well as being somewhat of a fashion plate in many countries. Defining style and music were never really goals of the half American half Trinidad girl with the at times uniquely booming voice who calls Norway home, they just happened. She mixes styles both in music and vocal together that most would think twice about or even question the idea of, but she makes it all work, its unique and instantly hers.

With that said, Mira comes along with her third album "Ghetto Fairytale", which brings her signature mixture of club, dirty south style american hip hop, Caribbean dancehall, latin and african drums, and sometimes, even almost operatic tones, it, like her other two albums, were kind of a roller coaster ride through all of her musical influences, I gotta say, three albums in, still a hell of a ride.




The album opens with a bass heavy booming anthem called "I'm the One" a nice sly yet sexy song with a smooth and slanky baseline and some rather nice lyrics, thats always been abit of a strong point of Mira's, mixing a song that would make a nice slow ballad with the right bass heavy beat to make it that extra bit of awesome, I'd actually like a nice toned down remix of this one, maybe a bonus track or something. the next song is, "Soul" a sort of sing along style song where Mira's mixing a simple guitar with a backbeat and uplifting lyrics about being true to yourself and what you feel is distinctly you. I find myself wondering if this is her trying to shut down her detractors and their complaints about her unique style. The next is "Jig", this is one of her somewhat standard dancehall tracks, Mira has this thing, where she loves to make tracks that you can just put on a playlist at any dance club anywhere and it just gets people going, last album it was "Leo", and the one before that was, well most of the album, but "Jig" is the first of those on this disc, its just awesome, the perfect mix of her brilliance and sassy style. After that is "Live" which starts out with a brilliant guitar and tribal drum mixture as Mira goes between singing really high notes and using her booming lower register, not alot of artists can do that as well as her, the song itself is the kind of song you expect to see middle eastern bellydancers or bollywood desi girls dancing in a group too, i do love this woman's world of influence more and more with each album. Next is one of the stand out tracks "Nightingale" this is her take on slow sexy seductive music, its a mix of light electronica and tribal style, mixed with rather suggestive lyrics done in her lower range coming out almost like a sexy growl, just amazing. Next is "Do It Yourself" an upbeat song that sounds almost like the kind of thing you'd hear in one of those cheerleader movies that suck so much, but unlike those movies, the song is rather catchy, its a testimonial to the work she's done musically, even directly referencing the fact she's made all three albums herself with no help, its almost a straight up calling out of those who have detracted her in the last few years. From here the album takes you back to various spots and doesn't fail to get you out of your seat, as you would expect from an album of this nature, the stand out of the last half of the album is infact the title track "Ghetto Fairytale", which brings Mira back to her mixture of slow and sexy basslines, sultry lyrics and enough of that middle eastern style bellydancing style sound that makes you wanna listen afew times through just for how awesome it is, the album ends afew tracks later with "When Tomorrow Comes" and "Shine" both beautifully tender in their own way tracks that make a great end ot the album.




So the big question, is this album for everyone? I would say so, if you're up for a nice trip around the musical world with stops that most people would think of mixing together this side of an obscure album by Truth Hurts, one of Dr. Dre's forgotten projects, that had a similar concept musically, just not as perfectly done. Mira is one of those artists where if you don't like what she's got to say, or the way she's saying it, you can enjoy the beats or the backing, or if you're in the mood for a singer that can mix high upper range, growling lower range anywhere in between and still bust out a rap that'll leave even the most stoic MC's jaw dropped open, then definitely give her a try, you will not be sitting down by the end of the album, seriously, you'll be on your feet or atleast chairdancing more then once on this disc. Definitely giving it my highest recommendation.

But if you need more convincing, here is her video for "I'm The One"




Arist: Mira Craig
Album: Ghetto Fairytale
Genre: HIP Hop, Dancehall, Club, Latin, African, Funk, Pop
Download: Here


By: BC