Why reggae is the best

Prolific As dancehall took over Jamaican music in the first half of the 80s, many older reggae singers struggled to adjust to the change, and newer voices that arrived were mostly required to ride the rhythm rather than display their vocal personality. However, some remarkable singers, such as Leroy Gibbon, Junior Reid, and Jack Radics, to name just a few, did make their talent known above the electronics — and none were more distinctive than Frankie Paul. His phenomenal voice developed from a Stevie Wonder -influenced style into a remarkably versatile instrument — he was just as happy introducing one of his records in the style of a US radio DJ as he was wailing the powerful chorus.

During the 90s he was less successful, though he still issued dozens of records. In the s Frankie was plagued with health problems, though he was still in fine voice when he took the mic. He died in Dawn Penn has proved one of the best reggae singers of either sex, but it took two entirely separate careers for the world to realize just how brilliant she is.

She continued recording until the end of the 60s with limited success, but left Jamaica, apparently retired from music, having seen little financial return for her efforts. Out of the blue, however, she returned to the reggae business in the early 90s. Holt made everything look easy, and his Time Is The Master album found him working with heavyweight reggae rhythms and an orchestra at the same time, a style that led to him recording several albums with Trojan in a similar style; his Volts Of Holt , Volts Of Holt , etc, series was kept in press for years on end.

However, there was more to Holt than this. Commercially and artistically, Bunny had a superb early 80s: he brought us the beautiful Sings The Wailers , a selection of classic Wailers tunes which updated their sound for a modern era, and the glorious Rock And Groove , which elegantly channeled his sound towards the rub-a-dub period that bridged the gap between roots and dancehall.

He had nothing to claim or prove. While his recording activities slowed after , Bunny has been involved in curating his long-unavailable classics, and remains the authentic voice and original figure of roots reggae. There is only one Bunny Wailer.

But while he was a fabulous singer of harmonies, he also owned a fierce and punchy lead vocal style to suit his more militant moods. Soulful, powerful, tender, light or heavy, Leroy Sibbles can do it all. And he was not even the only fabulous singer in his group, The Heptones. As if his singing, up there with the finest US soul singers, was not enough, Sibbles spent much of the 60s and 70s as a mainstay session player on bass, in a form of music where the bassline makes a song memorable.

Undoubtedly one of the finest reggae musicians that ever lived. Sibbles played on literally dozens of hits — and was also writing songs for his group, alongside its other members, Barry Llewelyn and Earl Morgan. The Heptones cut two albums for Island in the mids. Sibbles made several returns to The Heptones down the decades, and still has thousands of devoted fans worldwide, who admire both his glorious voice and those remarkable basslines that became the foundation stone for generations of reggae thrillers.

Now in his 60s, his recording career has eased back a little, but when he does release an album or a single, the impact is immediate, such is his legion of fans. Hammond began his career in his teens during the 70s, cutting a few solo singles before joining the polished band Zap Pow in When Zap Pow parted ways at the end of the decade, Hammond focused on his burgeoning solo material.

Justifiably, his first album was called Soul Reggae. He had gone solo at a tricky time: dancehall rapidly rose in the 80s to dominate Jamaican music, and DJs reggae rappers would rule it, not singers with smoky, wailing voices. The group cut enough material for three albums with Gibbs, but swiftly moved on to a deal with producer Sonia Pottinger and Virgin Records for further heart-lifting albums Harder Than The Rest , International Herb, and Cumbolo both , sometimes credited as The Cultures.

There was also a remix set, Culture Dub. What made them so appealing? Even when singing about suffering, his voice called you to your feet, urged you to feel what he felt, and picked up your mood. He was not the most polished vocalist, and nor were Culture the smoothest vocal group in Jamaica, but they had such spirit. The will to live through hard times and find a better world was present and unquenchable in all their performances.

The group continued to cut albums deep into the 80s and Hill maintained the name even after it had stopped being a vocal group. Producing his own material, he retained his roots stance yet also coped well with the rise of dancehall, recording numerous albums as well as working on singles for his own production banner.

This is a place where Rastas, reggae musicians, singers, painters and some other artists dealing with Rasta culture usually meet. Furthermore, as mentally ill people commonly wear dreadlocks simply because they never comb their hair , they usually consider dreadlocks a dirty and messy hairstyle, if not insanity.

Check your history! Photo 3. Alpha Blondy performing in Paris. Throughout his fertile career which he started in , Lucky Dube never stopped denouncing discrimination, segregation and exclusion, which black South Africans were the victims of.

He also advocated unity among people. Among his most representative albums, one must mention Slave , Prisoner and Victims. It is also crucial to emphasize the Pacific region.

Indeed, like Jamaicans and Africans, Maori, Aborigines and Kanaks have experienced colonialism, enslavement, genocides and denial of their traditions and religious beliefs. It is not an overstatement to say that almost the whole world have been culturally influenced by reggae music and its Rastafarian message. How can we explain such a scattering? Besides, foreigners appear to be captivated by reggae music because of its militant, rebellious and spiritual message as well as its positive and universal message dealing with the concept of unity.

Rasta symbols such as dreadlocks, Ethiopian colours, ganja or military clothing also play an important part in charming foreign audience. In other respects, a final remark could be made: the great importance of reggae and Rastafari in the worldwide cultural universe raise the question of the place of reggae and Rastafari in Caribbean studies in France.

Like rock, punk or hippie movements, reggae and Rastafari have influenced societies from a musical, cultural and political point of view. For that reason, they really can not be ignored, especially in the field of Caribbean Studies, which in France and the French West Indies, unfortunately, tend to focus on topics like tourism, migrations or environmental geography. France-Cameroun, Croisement dangereux!

Bonacci, G. Bonacci et S. Fila-Bakabadio dir , Musiques populaires. Bradley, L. Bass Culture , Londres, Penguin Books. Chang, J. Chevannes, B. Diop, B. Tobner et F-X. Verschave Kroubo, Dagnini J. Kroubo Dagnini, J. Les origines du reggae : retour aux sources. Letts, D. Marshall, G. Mbiti, J-S. Moore, J-B. Raoult J. Salewicz, C.

Boot Sherlock, P. Bennett 8. Veal, M-E. White, G. Caribbean Quarterly , 13 3 : Aitken, Laurel Blondy, Alpha and The Wailers Blondy, Alpha and The Wailers. Blondy, Alpha Blondy, Alpha,. Clapton, Eric Clash, The Clash, The. The Clash.

London Calling. David, Tonton Paris: Virgin, , 45 tours. Dekker, Desmond Hot Red All Stars, The Marley, B. Marley, Bob and The Wailers It expands your music library After listening to the same Top songs over and over again for months on end, you need a break.

With the countless number of reggae artists in the industry today, you can have an unlimited playlist full of great songs that will never get old.

Most importantly, it makes you happy Just by listening to the music and the optimism and soul in the voices of the singers, you automatically become happy. Hit play on this playlist, bring out your inner rasta and get happy. Skip to Content , Navigation , or Footer.

Post-Haste: Weekly Weather: A calm, cold weekend ahead; rain chances increase next week. Hannah Wintucky. So push play on Spotify and listen to this playlist because there are at least six reasons why you need to be listening to more reggae: 1.