Contact: [email protected]:South Yard - Jungle Cakes - Run Tingz - Serial Killaz - Dub Shotta - Liondub International - Nice Up! - Ghetto Dub - Deep in the Jungle - LowfreqBio:Born in Barcelona and moved to Bristol, Dubtime is a dj and producer who developed his style after he fell into Reggae and sub-genres like Dub and Ragga-Jungle.
. Tropical popDancehall is a genre of Jamaican that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of than the style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably, with digital dancehall (or ') becoming increasingly characterized by faster rhythms.
Key elements of dancehall music include its extensive use of rather than and a focus on the track instrumentals (or ').Dancehall saw initial mainstream success in Jamaica in the 1980s, and by the 1990s, it became increasingly popular in communities. In the 2000s, dancehall experienced worldwide mainstream success, and by the 2010s, it began to heavily influence the work of established artists and producers, which has helped to further bring the genre into the Western music mainstream.General topicsGenres.Nationalistic and patriotic songsNational anthemRegional music. Contents.History Development Dancehall is named after Jamaican in which popular Jamaican recordings were played by local.They began in the late 1940s among people from the inner city of, who were not able to participate in dances uptown. Social and political changes in late-1970s Jamaica, including the change from the government of to , were reflected in the shift away from the more internationally oriented towards a style geared more towards local consumption and in tune with the music that Jamaicans had experienced when sound systems performed live. Themes of social injustice, repatriation and the were overtaken by lyrics about dancing, violence and sexuality.Musically, older rhythms from the late 1960s were recycled, with credited as the originator of this trend when he voiced new lyrics over old rhythms between sessions at the studio, where he was working as a session musician.
In 1970s, Big Youth, U Roy, and I Roy were famous DJs. Around the same time, producer was reworking old rhythms at, using the band. The Roots Radics would go on to work with on some of the key early dancehall recordings, including those that established, and as major reggae stars. Other singers to emerge in the early dancehall era as major stars included, and, while more established names such as and successfully adapted.Sound systems such as Killimanjaro, Gemini Disco, Virgo Hi-Fi, Volcano Hi-Power and Aces International soon capitalized on the new sound and introduced a new wave of. The older toasters were overtaken by new stars such as, and — a change reflected by the 1981 Junjo Lawes-produced album A Whole New Generation of DJs, although many went back to for inspiration. Deejay records became, for the first time, more important than records featuring singers. Another trend was sound clash albums, featuring rival deejays /or sound systems competing head-to-head for the appreciation of a live audience, with underground sound clash cassettes often documenting the violence that came with such rivalries.Yellowman, one of the most successful early dancehall artists, became the first Jamaican deejay to be signed to a major American record label, and for a time enjoyed a level of popularity in Jamaica to rival 's peak.
The early 1980s also saw the emergence of female deejays in dancehall music, such as,. Other female dancehall stars include artistes like and in the late 1990s to the 2000s, and more., and becoming major DJs in Jamaica.With a little help from deejay sound, 'sweet sing' (falsetto voice) singers such as, Frankie Paul, Half Pint, Courtney Melody, and were popular in Jamaica.DJ theory Sound systems and the development of other musical technology heavily influenced dancehall music.
The music needed to 'get where the radio didn't reach' because Jamaicans oftentimes were outside without radios. Especially because the audience of dancehall sessions were lower-class people, it was extremely important that they be able to hear music.
Sound systems allowed people to listen to music without having to buy a radio. Therefore, the dancehall culture grew as the use of technology and sound systems got better.The Jamaican dancehall scene was one created out of creativity and a desire for accessibility, and one that is inseparable from sound system culture. The term ‘Dancehall’, while now typically used in reference to the specific and uniquely Jamaican genre of music, originally referred to a physical location. This location was always an open-air venue from which DJs and later “Toasters”, a precursor to MCs, could perform their original mixes and songs for their audience via their sound systems. The openness of the venue paired with the innately mobile nature of the sound system, allowed performers to come to the people. At the onset of the dancehall scene, sound systems were the only way that some Jamaican audiences might hear the latest songs from popular artist. Through time, it transformed to where the purveyors of the sound systems were the artists themselves and they became whom the people came to see along with their own original sounds.
With the extreme volume and low bass frequencies of the sound systems local people might very well feel the vibrations of the sounds before they could even hear them, though the sound itself did travel for miles.Jamaica was one of the first cultures to pioneer the concept of remixing. As a result, production level and sound system quality were critical to Jamaica's budding music industry. Since many locals couldn't afford sound systems in their home, listening to one at a dance party or at a festival was their entry into audible bliss.
Writer Brougtton and Brewster's book states that sound systems were a product of Jamaican social lifestyle. The success of music wasn't just in the hands of one person anymore, it was a factor of the DJ, speaking poetic words to the audience, the Selector, harmonizing beats in an aesthetically pleasing way, and the Sound Engineer, wiring the sound systems to handle deeper and louder bass tones. Music became a factor of many elements and the physicality of that sound was a strategic puzzle left for musicians to solve. Dancehall 1980s 's 1985 hit, ' by, with an entirely-digital rhythm hook took the dancehall reggae world by storm. Many credit this song as being the first digital rhythm in reggae, featuring a rhythm from a keyboard. However, this is not entirely correct since there are earlier examples of digital productions, such as Horace Ferguson's single 'Sensi Addict' (Ujama) produced by in 1984.
The 'Sleng Teng' rhythm was used in over 200 subsequent recordings. This deejay-led, largely synthesized chanting with musical accompaniment departed from traditional conceptions of Jamaican popular musical entertainment.said, 'if 1970s reggae was red, green and gold, then in the next decade it was gold chains'. It was far removed from reggae's gentle roots and culture, and there was much debate among purists as to whether it should be considered an extension of reggae.This shift in style again saw the emergence of a new generation of artists, such as, and, who became the biggest star in silage the world. A new set of producers also came to prominence:, Wycliffe 'Steely' Johnson and Cleveland 'Clevie' Brown (aka ) rose to challenge 's position as Jamaica's leading rhythm section.Dancehall 2000s By the early 2000s, Dancehall had gained mainstream popularity in Jamaica, as well as in the United States and Western parts of Europe. This was first seen with artists such as, whose single ' (2003) became the first dancehall single to reach number one on the US.Unlike earlier Dancehall, the new evolution of Dancehall music was characterized by using structures of music commonly heard in mainstream, such as repeated choruses, melodic tunes,. Sometimes the lyrics were cleaner and featured less sexual content and profanity.Some of the artists who benefitted-heavily in this new era of Dancehall were;, Lady Saw and, some of whom saw international success.Gaza vs Gully The Gaza vs Gully feud in Jamaica started between rival Dancehall greats and in the early 2000s and was a reason for the civil war in Jamaica, until they called for peace in 2007, after the authorities took an interest.
The feud sparked diss tracks between the artists that continued after they publicly denounced the rivalry.The reminiscence is still present in the loyalty between up and coming artists in Jamaica, for example, was an known affiliate of after Vybz Kartel gave him his first major feature on track 'Clarks'in 2011. This section needs additional citations for. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: – ( August 2008) defines dancehall culture as a 'space for the cultural creation and dissemination of symbols and ideologies that reflect the lived realities of its adherents, particularly those from the inner cities of Jamaica.'
Dancehall culture actively creates a space for its 'affectors' (creators of dancehall culture) and its 'affectees' (consumers of dancehall culture) to take control of their own representation, contest conventional relationships of power, and exercise some level of cultural, social and even political autonomy.Kingsley Stewart outlines ten of the major cultural imperatives or principles that constitute the dancehall worldview. Dancehall-inspired dancingThese same notions of dancehall as a cultural space are echoed in Norman Stolzoff's Wake the Town and Tell the People.
He notes that dancehall is not merely a sphere of passive consumerism, but rather is an alternative sphere of active cultural production that acts as a means through which black lower-class youth articulate and project a distinct identity in local, national, and global contexts. Through dancehall, ghetto youths attempt to deal with the endemic problems of poverty, racism, and violence, and in this sense the dancehall acts as a communication center, a relay station, a site where black lower-class culture attains its deepest expression. Thus, dancehall in Jamaica is yet another example of the way that the music and dance cultures of the African diaspora have challenged the passive consumerism of mass cultural forms, such as recorded music, by creating a sphere of active cultural production that potentially may transform the prevailing hegemony of society.In Out and Bad: Toward a Queer Performance Hermeneutic in Jamaican Dancehall Nadia Ellis explicates the culture of combined homophobia and unabashed queerness within Jamaican dancehall culture. Further information:After the popularizing of Buju Banton's dancehall song 'Boom Bye Bye' in the early 1990s, dancehall music came under criticism from international organizations and individuals over anti-gay lyrics in a few songs though in recent years these attitudes have changed. In some cases, dancehall artists whose music featured anti-gay lyrics have had their concerts cancelled. Various singers were investigated by international law enforcement agencies such as, on the grounds that the lyrics incited the audience to assault homosexuals.
's 1993 hit 'Boom Bye Bye' advocates the murder of homosexuals by shooting or burning, or both ('like an old tire wheel'). Many of the affected singers believed that legal or commercial sanctions were essentially an attack against.
Some artists agreed not to use anti-gay lyrics during their concerts in Europe and the United States, although some artists, such as Capleton, continue to have their concerts cancelled due to the campaign.Donna P. Hope argues that dancehall culture's anti-homosexual lyrics formed part of a macho discussion that advanced the interest of the heterosexual male in Jamaica, which is a Christian society with strong influence as well. Even while dancehall culture in Jamaica sported images of men in pseudo-gay poses and costumes, the cultural, religious, social and gendered imperatives of the society advanced and promoted the ideal man as macho and heterosexual and men who are homosexual were identified as inadequate and impure portraits of true masculinity.Some scholars have theorized that these explicitly homophobic lyrics are actually what make it possible for queer performances spaces to be created within Dancehall culture. In her paper 'Out and Bad: Toward a Queer Performance Hermeneutic in Jamaican Dancehall', Nadia Ellis explains that queer masculine expression is allowed in specific situations within Jamaican culture with “homophobic lyrics actually opening up a space for increasingly free expression”.
Explicitly homophobic songs such as “Boom Bye Bye” are constantly replayed at dancehall venues, despite the fact that the culture is defined by constant renewal and the search for the new. These songs, despite often being over ten years old, are actually necessary to “consecrate” the spaces as straight and masculine. Once a song like “Boom Bye Bye” is played, the area is open to expression of queerness because the song acts as a disclaimer or a free pass, blessing anyone participating with a stamp of straightness and normalcy. 27 January 2016.
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Rumble in the Jungle, a new Soul Jazz collection of classic early 1990s jungle, is not necessarily the perfect introduction to a genre that's become something of a forgotten story now that Germany has taken out a 99-year lease on all dance music coverage. But since new fans (i.e.
Most people reading this) will find it easy to look past the deficiencies that longtime jungle obsessives (including myself) have been complaining about on message boards and blogs- the obviousness of the tracklisting, the deathly dry packaging, the deeply contentious liner notes, the preponderance of tracks by renegade hip-housers Shut Up and Dance- Rumble may still one of the best (or at least easy to actually procure) old-school jungle comps for newbies that's currently out there. Even if it is deeply circumscribed from a stylistic standpoint, with a selection of tracks errs towards anthems, with a few deep pocket wild cards designed to prick the ears of the converted.All of the tracks on Rumble in the Jungle are linked by their attempt to squeeze as much Jamaica into their brief running times as possible.
Of course, the England of Caribbean immigrants already had plenty of reggae lying around, and as the story famously goes, its children demanded something new, with epochal cut-and-paste jobs like Shy FX's 'Original Nuttah' and M-Beat's 'Incredible' also being the place where those raw, digitally dusted breakbeats met dancehall and dub. Without that 21st century twist to the funk (instantly recognizable but still improbable over a decade later), that mutated input from New York and L.A., these tracks wouldn't be half so exhilarating or infectious.
Like the witty, blubbery low-end of DJ Zinc's 'Super Sharp Shooter' expanding hip-hop's waistline until it almost bursts-you can't hear it and not smile. This is 'futurism' that makes you sweat and bounce, sensation-juiced tracks that are arguably closer to the dreaded 'Switch tune at +8' or 'homemade Lil Mama breakbeat remix' than modern techno or even dubstep. If Rumble rarely relaxes, explores beauty for its own sake, or fails to pay due deference to rave, jungle's emotional and sonic range always precluded an all-inclusive, one-disc introduction.
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Anyway, you should be jumping up and down too much to really give a shit about historicity.Meanwhile Greensleeves' new collection, Ragga Jungle Dubs, follows the label's excellent 1996 cash-in Ragga Jungle Anthems, and its appearance so close to Rumble in the Jungle seems to be a cosmic accident rather than a retro marketing push. And the two compilations couldn't be more different.
Far from Rumble's rubbery rhythmic personality, the tracks on Ragga Jungle Dubs are even less rave-y (fewer bright synth hooks, wriggling acid basslines, and stick-in-your-head rap samples) and more ruthlessly mechanical, flecked with subtler hooks and heart-attack syncopations like the machine gun spray of 'Gangster Don't Joke (Drum & Bass Dub)'. When they're on, the producers of these faceless 'dubs' work miracles out of just lonesome keyboard ripples the knock-off 4Hero eeriness of 'New Blood Spilt (Drum & Bass Dub)' or gunshot sound effects the self-explanatory 'People Dead (Jungle Dub)', playing the gun play nursery rhymes the murder-minded doo wop of 'Gun Talk (Original Dub Plate Lick)' and clamoring party chants of yard stars like Ninjaman and Bounty Killer off rhythms that have the grinding exactitude of subway cars at high speed. Ragga Jungle Dubs is less interested in being a highlights reel, more about the kind of serious grooves that separate fans from dabblers. Buy the former, however, and you'll probably want the latter soon enough.
Released the year after Volume 1, Ragga Jungle Anthems, Vol. 2 feels kind of like leftover stew. It features the same winning combination of heavyweight dancehall reggae and hyperkinetic jungle breakbeats, but only a handful of tracks on this similarly long-winded compilation feel like truly essential material. These include the brilliant drum'n'bass reconstruction of Barrington Levy's 'Here I Come,' which opens the program, and the masterfully arranged combination track 'Gunman (Junglist Ricochet)' featuring Michael Prophet and Beenie Man. On the less impressive side are several tracks on which the producers didn't bother to make sure that the singer and the rhythm were in the same key - examples include a version of Dawn Penn's 'No No No' that is far inferior to the one on the first volume for just that reason, and a truly excruciating setting of Barrington Levy's 'She's Mine,' on which the singer and rhythm are not only working in different keys, but one is in a major key and the other a minor one.
Ragga Jungle Anthems Raritan Nj
This collection isn't worthless, but those looking for a good introduction to the ragamuffin jungle genre should definitely start with the first volume. Rick Anderson.
Ragga Jungle Anthems Raritan Valley
The best and most interesting jungle or drum'n'bass music has always been the kind that draws deepest on the music's reggae roots; the juxtaposition of languid, smoky basslines and frenetic double-speed breakbeats has always packed a special wallop, more so than the chillier, all-digital variety. The two volumes in the Greensleeves label's two-disc Ragga Jungle Anthems series offers a case in point. Although it would have been nice to have some roots reggae artists scattered in among the rockstone deejays and loverman dancehall crooners, and although most of the tracks on this first volume run far too long (about five minutes, on average), this collection does a good job of presenting the state of the art in ragamuffin junglism. Chakademus and Pliers have never sounded more confident and powerful than they do in this jungle setting of 'Gal Wine' (mixed by Ridley Don), and there are exceptionally fine remixes of Dawn Penn's classic 'No No No' and Barrington Levy's 'Under Mi Sensi,' as well.
Bounty Killer shows up on almost half the tracks, which is a few too many, but he's a good choice for this kind of restlessly energetic material. Only the pedestrian slackness of Admiral Bailey's 'Jungle Punanny' really disappoints. Highly recommended overall. Rick Anderson.
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