Jimmy Cliff is an artist to be watched. If you haven't seen The Harder They Come, starring Cliff in the first feature film made in and about Jamaica, do. Cliff wrote and sings five of the film's songs and they are stunners, embodying the kinky persona he projects in his role as a street singer who asks too many questions and wants the world to shake ass when he makes music…. [His] lyrics combine a touching sincerity with the arrogance of youth. He left me lost on the last notes of his persuasive lullabies, ready for more.

The soundtrack album … is a delight, offering a vivisection of Jamaican music by Cliff and other pop artists…. It's downright defiant, and only threatening if you got what you want. Yet, as in the movie, Cliff comes on strong and emerges as the music's man of most substance. His style was...