Rising reggae star NESTA brings lovers rock into the 21st century with new rhythmic anthem ‘Be My Love’
SINGLE Review: Be My Love by NESTA.
For people who like…reggae, lovers lock, dub-reggae.
It’s been some time since I’ve heard a lovers rock anthem that’s caught my attention, and even longer since I’ve seen a current artist freshen the rhythmic Romeo sound for reggae lovers of today – enter NESTA from Queens NYC, who’s just dropped his latest single Be My Love merging old reggae sounds and modern flavours exquisitely.
Be My Love starts out pretty much like any other reggae track, with an echoey “special request” sample, sirens in the background, and a horn thrown in for good measure. After a few seconds Queens born NESTA enters with his first verse, coupled with a deep 808 and heavily reverbed tom smashes, so this comes across initially as a dub reggae b-side.
Then after the lyrics “me a woulda love to learn your body language, me sey me never gonna cause you any anguish” NESTA blesses us with the catchy chorus that is likely to get stuck in your head all day. This is the jewel of the track, with the rhythm across the guitar, bass and drums really doubling down – now I’m enthusiastically nodding my head and swaying my shoulders from side to side.
Even with the lyrics across the song speaking of pretty girls and loving serenades, it’s the hook that adds the old skool lovers rock vibe so beautifully – with its graceful swing and slow ambience, while somehow also coming with a fresh modern tone.
Into the second verse and NESTA brings more clever lyricism that changes tempo but doesn’t change the consistent flirtation of this modern lovers rock banger. Back into the chorus again and I feel like I’ve travelled through several eras of reggae, an elegant touch on almost every sub-genre from lovers rock to roots, and dub into poppy radio hit reggae.
NESTA has delivered a masterfully deep reggae anthem, which manages to retain its lovers rock charm while touching on bassier sub-genres – all we need now is a ragga jungle remix and we’ve got everything covered. If you’re a fan of reggae in any measure, this is simply a MUST listen!
