Masicka’s third studio album, Forever Reign begins with “1 Psalm” and ends with “Parables,” both reggae tracks with titles associated with King David and his son, King Solomon. In between the two is an album about what happens after ambition gets what it wanted.
On his self-imposed journey towards the crown, he is discovering that obtaining power and keeping it are entirely different problems. There are giant oppositions in the way, and the crown that once represented the fulfillment of ambition becomes something that must constantly be defended.
“1 Psalm a day,” he acknowledges the higher being before everything else he is about to celebrate.
David’s biblical story is one of faith, warfare, persecution, triumph, failure and kingship. He was a warrior who became a king, but one whose power never removed his need for divine guidance.
Masicka is not presenting himself as David, but the parallel suits the album. Beneath the threats, money and certainty remains an understanding that survival and success are not entirely self-authored. The man declaring his reign begins by looking above himself.
Forever Reign is no Shakespearean tragedy, although it explores dark themes on songs like “Wicked Spell” and “AK Fire.” If anything, it reverses the proposition and keeps themes of faith, money, violence, women, survival and success at the center of almost every track.
There is still plenty of bravado, but less desperation behind it this time around. At 32, Masicka has already spent half of his life making the argument for his place near dancehall’s summit, and now he is breaking chains, trying to outdo himself.
Romance is hardly the priority on this set. Here, he is more transactional and assured. On the yearning track “Good,” there is little begging and sentimental performance. Money, pleasure and masculinity become intertwined: he knows what he has, knows what he can provide and assumes that should speak loudly enough.
“Yes I feel good when I am inside you, when I am inside you,” he sings. “Me nah leave, permanent resident, your p*ssy good evident, effervescent… Take me money nuh gyal.”
His choruses are bigger on this album and there is an effort to be more melodic even on the lyrical tracks. “Slip & Slide,” riding the familiar Hill and Gully riddim, approaches similar territory as “Good” with considerably more playfulness. Its use of a riddim connected to Jamaica’s “Hill and Gully” folk tradition, made popular by Lord Composer and His Silver Seas Hotel Orchestra’s 1954 track “Hill and Gully Ride / Mandeville Road,” also gives the album obsessed with longevity an inadvertent link to Jamaican music’s own ability to recycle, reinterpret and preserve itself.
Throughout Forever Reign, money is rarely just money. It is proof.
Proof that the struggle produced something. Proof that Masicka escaped circumstances that once threatened to define him. Proof, too, of the status he now occupies. If Generation of Kings (2023) was concerned with becoming, Forever Reign is fascinated by having.
That confidence extends to the album’s relatively restrained guest list. There are only four billed features: Damian Marley on “1 Psalm,” Blaqbonez on “G Wagon,” Kraff Gad on “Honor Roll” and Lila Iké on the closing track Each serves a purpose. Marley supplies reggae lineage and spiritual weight; Blaqbonez provides the Nigerian connection; Kraff represents a younger dancehall generation; and Iké helps bring the record back towards contemplation at its close.
“Honor Roll” is particularly effective because Masicka gives Kraff enough room to be himself. Masicka has said he sees some of his younger self in Kraff, who holds his own lyrically rather than simply appearing as a supporting character. There is confidence in that generosity, too: Masicka no longer needs every collaboration to function as evidence of his superiority or ability to make international connections.
Behind him, producer Mario “Dunw3ll” Dunwell deserves particular mention. He has a production role on 10 of the album’s 17 tracks — approximately 59 per cent of the project. Masicka himself also takes production credits on several songs.
In the end, the album’s biblical symmetry is not exact, but it is suggestive. Solomon inherited David’s kingdom and became synonymous not primarily with conquest but with wisdom, wealth and the difficulties of governing.
And there is the intriguing arc.
David fights for the kingdom. Solomon must understand what to do with it.
The young artist wanted the kingdom. The successful artist wants his work to outlive the reign.
★★★★☆
Forever Reign is released via Def Jam Recordings.
