SASHA – “Hanky Panky” (aka PopNose5): Sasha is part of a post-Sean-Paul pop-dancehall trend, literally in her case since her big break was on Paul’s “I’m So In Love With You” single. Now, I’m no expert on the economic effects of previous smash-and-grab raids by First World pop corps on Jamaican music but my hope is that this is a Good Thing for all concerned as it means i) more cash knocking about; ii) loads of great pop dancehall on the radio over here; iii) inevitable backlash producing ever newer and more surprising sounds over there. But who knows? It might mean everybody getting ripped off and loads of awful records. This track is good though – as a couple of the comments box people mentioned it’s a bit coyer than a lot of dancehall. Probably this is because Sasha is being groomed for proper pop stardom, but I think it’s kind of charming and it works with the subject matter: if spanking ever was a thrillingly decadent practise it surely isn’t any more, the catchy, cutesy and just slightly naughty “Hanky Panky” is a pop song for a post-Secretary world of furry handcuffs and Cosmo Girl S & M.
Ahem. Sasha’s solo stuff was brought to my notice by ILM stalwart Sterling Clover who started a whole thread on the topic. You can get this track on Riddim Driven – Project X and, who knows, maybe on Sasha’s own album one day soon.