The Courtney John Project

In the world of Courtney John, reggae and EDM are "rootstronic" — a fusion that's heavy on Jamaican dub and Euro electronic-oriented sounds. Toronto by-way-of Jamaica's Courtney John has been a fixture on the music scene and, combined with Steven "Lenky" Marsden and "the Wizard" Nastassja Hammond, this project is on point, in terms of dubstep sensibilities. Opening track "Black Cinderella" puts the rootstronic tag to the test and does a solid job reworking the roots classic. Joints like "Soul of a Man" and "Give You Love" show that there just might be something to this rootstronic sound. "Rain Like Gold" is the defining track on the album, the song one needs to hear to fully grasp what this record is all about. The production could be a bit more robust, but Future isn't so much a debut album as it is a continuing movement that the Courtney John Project and contemporaries like Major Lazer are pushing ahead with.