Beat maker, producer, song writer, director and graphic designer Michael DaCosta certainly earned his stage name Massy The Creator. That being said, in his early days, when he was still working for Serani's Daseca label, he was still known as Massyka. Before focusing all of his attention on his music career, Massy first travelled to Minnesota in the US, where he got a bachelor's degree in audiovisual production. Michael already produced tracks for artists like Chronixx, Elephant Man, T.O.K. and Kabaka Pyramid, and directed video clips for, among others, Busy Signal, Sean Paul and Queen Ifrica. But with 'Future Roots', Massy's take on the future evolution of reggae (for which he joined forces with Israeli producer Amit Sagie), he now finally also presents his own long player debut. Asked about the title of the album, Massy commented: "With my music I want to focus on the future without forgetting about my roots!". 'Future Roots' opens with the autobiographical 'The Creator', a song in which Massy put his own story to music. A bit of fun is 'Miss Jamaica', a combination with Ethan Scorcher, in which Massy compares his beloved island with a handsome woman, but it's also a play on words, as "miss" can be read as "to feel sad that a person or thing is not present" or "a form of address for a girl or young woman". For 'On My Way', the first of two duets with J. Militia, Massy goes dancehall and even drum & bass, and in 'Been Searchin'' he smoothly blends influences from r&b and hip-hop with reggae. With Koro Fyah, one of his buddies from his Bebble Rock days, Massy recorded 'Pressure' definitely one of the top tunes in the track list. Also worth a listen is 'Move On', a break up tune over an updated nyahbinghi riddim. Similar in content is 'Pack My Bags', an excellent combination with the otherwise unknown Debbie Pottinger. The absolute party starter on 'Future Roots', and our personal favorite, in the track list is 'Free' a duet with Torch. For the contagious disco-flavored 'Love Yourself', Massy used excerpts from 'Who taught you to hate?', a speech held by Malcolm X on May 5th 1962 at the funeral of Ronald Stokes, a black man who was killed by the LAPD... history continues to repeat itself. Closing track 'Thank You', once more featuring J. Militia, was not really our cup of tea, but apart from that minor slipup, 'Future Roots' is an excellent and very varied album with a filler-free track list. Creative multi-talent to keep an eye on!