Reggae resurgence
SOUNDS OF JAMAICA CONTINUE TO INSPIRE MASSES WORLDWIDE
Poughkeepsie Journal
Gannett News Service
September 1, 2006
Walk through any mall and you'll see stores filled with racks of clothes in the red, green and gold of Jamaica. Stroll through any college campus and you may hear the sounds of Bob Marley's "Legend" drifting from the dorms. Even Southern California diva Gwen Stefani is modeling the logo of her L.A.M.B. clothing line after the Lion of Judah, a symbol of Rastafarianism.
"(Reggae) resonates at the core of the human soul. The message, the sound, the beat of reggae, it vibrates the spirit," says Marley's son Ziggy, who has a new album out, "Love Is My Religion," and who is currently on tour.
Island Records
No reggae musician has matched Bob Marley's influence. A new generation of artists, including his sons Stephen, Ziggy and Damian, use Marley's rasta rhythms and "one love" philosophy as a springboard for fresh sounds
Unwavering popularity
Reggae never really went away. But 25 years after Marley's death, it's cool again in America, thanks to a new generation of performers who are using Marley's rasta rhythms and "one love" philosophy as a springboard for fresh sounds.
"I realized reggae was hot again when I started noticing (reggae label) Studio One recordings from the '60s being used in commercials," says Chris Wilson, vice president of A&R for Heartbeat Records, a reggae reissue label.
No reggae musician has matched Marley's influence, but Ziggy has picked up his father's musical mantle, recording such roots-reggae tunes as "Tomorrow People" and "Conscious Party" with his siblings' band the Melody Makers. His second solo album, "Love Is My Religion," blends reggae with acoustic and world-beat touches.
Also riding the crest of the U.S. reggae resurgence is Matisyahu, a self-styled "Hasidic reggae superstar" whose smash albums "Live at Stubb's" and "Youth," which debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 album chart in March, have led to a nonstop tour schedule, videos in regular rotation on MTV and performances on "The Late Show with David Letterman" and other mainstream shows.
"It always seems like there was some reggae singer who was scoring hits, UB40 or Shaggy or someone," says Matisyahu.
He uses the dancehall sound, a hip-hop-reggae hybrid, for the basis of Hebrew rhymes, rapping over a faster, bass-heavy reggae beat, called toasting.
Dancehall daze
Since Marley's death, reggae hits have generally been from dancehall stars, rather than roots-reggae singers like Marley.
"I used to listen to (dancehall star) Sizzla when I was younger," Matisyahu says. "He was singing about Rastafarianism, black supremacy, Emperor Selassie being God — these are things that I have absolutely no connection with. But still I found a connection with the music, it still spoke to me and inspired my sound."
Shabba Ranks was the first dancehall star to cross over in the United States, scoring numerous hits in the early '90s, including "Mr. Loverman." Since then Shaggy and Sean Paul have topped the charts with their dancehall beats.
"The kids listening to this music don't always realize that it's reggae," says Wilson of Heartbeat Records. "My neighbors were talking about this great rapper named Sean Paul, but his sound is clearly reggae."
1 comment:
It is always good to see an interest in Rasta and its most potent vehicle, reggae music. I think though, that we should be skeptical of ALL that which is promulgated by the mass media. It is the agent of babylon.
As reggae is on the increase in the media, we will hear more watered down music. Artists will no longer sing as they feel, but rather as they are told. We saw the same with Hip-hop culture. Does the music on BET represent black people? No, it is a modern day minstrel show. In this same way then, is matisyahoo and gwen stefani representing the soul of reggae music?
So we see that when a sub-culture is brought into the limelight of the the media, it imediately becomes watered down. Eventually it loses its soul. We see it with skateboarding culture too. I first started skating about 15 years ago. Then it was unpopular and looked down upon, but now there are video games and x-games and nike skate shoes. It is not like it used to be.
I still skate, but its hard now. I really have to make a concerted effort to cut through all the corprate crap polluting the industry. In the same way, dont give up on reggae, but look out for reggae that hasn't lost its soul. After al it is the spirit in the music which makes it what it is. I'm glad to see some recognition of Rastafari and reggea, but don't let (emp)TV ruin our music.
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