A Chiliagon is a real thing. It’s a thousand-sided object or polygon with, obviously, a thousand surfaces and facets. It’s a perfect name for dancehall, dub, jungle and ragga legend Spragga Benz, as in one word it describes his multifaceted career as well as his multi-genre LP.
Like other reggae legends General Levy, Harry Shotta and Akala who, incidentally are also on the Chiliagon EP, Spragga Benz has been integral to the development of bass music, as it all started from reggae, raga and jump up jungle. Benz was there in the beginning, working with the progenitors of the jungle beat form, which gave birth to drum and bass and later dubstep, neurofunk and riddim. Aside from and in addition to all that, however, Spragga Benz is a stand-alone legend of dancehall himself and this LP, his first since 2012’s Local Sound System, is fittingly epic.
As an album, Chiliagon covers all the bases Spragga Benz has run so well and so many times: ragga jungle, jump up, roots reggae, dancehall, dub reggae, name it. It features the afore-mentioned Harry Shotta, General Levy and Akala along with Spragga on vocals and also a range of producers, also from a range of genres and experience levels. From newcomer The French Monkey Wrench putting down some chill, modern hip hop beats to Zed Bias with his UKG style, Cadenza’s jungle beats or Hype and Fever’s eerie twist on dancehall in the album’s first single “Spread Out”, if Benz can vocalize over it, it’s on this album.
Chiliagon will be releasing in four separate EPs over the course of the next nine months, with only “Spread Out” having been released to the public so far. The slow release may be by genre to ease listeners into the truly massive number of styles that are on this record, or simply to allow each facet of the Chiliagon to shine on its own. No matter what the impetus, however, this album will be a truly great collection that music fans of all proclivities will want to get their hands on. Spragga Benz’s music and voice is the foundation for so many forms of EDM, and no bass music collection is complete without him.
Chiliagon will be releasing in stages on Buttercuts Records, and Spragga Benz and his Friendz will also be promoting it with a series of live tours. Check out the Buttercuts website for all the info as it unfolds.
