sKinHeads

The original skinheads were heavily into reggae and followed the likes of Prince Buster, The Pioneers, Derrick Harriot and Derrick Morgan. Not to be confused with the Nazi skinheads and 'Oy' music, who came later.

Symarip - Skinhead Moonstomp

 kOOl hErC

Born Clive Cambell in Jamaica. Herc travelled to the Bronx where he gained a name playing his Sound. He took US recordings and played them using reggae techniques. For example: Instead of using the version (instrumental mix) as was the case in dancehalls, he took the break-beat in the middle of a record and played it over and over by mixing between two records. He is also credited with introducing toasting to the US. His style gave birth to a new genre and Herc became known as the father of hip hop.

 bUn doWn baBYlon

Rastafari's popular chant to burn down the corrupt European society termed Babylon was popularised by Bob Marley. It was taken up by the rebellious punks and featured in the famous record 'Babylon is Burning' by the Ruts.

 rAVe scENe

Although rave music was built on N. American house music, the scene itself was modelled on the dancehall scene. Old halls, abandoned buildings or even big outdoor spaces were taken over and Sound Systems brought in and music played throughout the night. Many reggae Sound Systems (particularly dub sounds) moonlighted at raves in the early years. Later rave promoters built their own sets modelled on Sound Systems even to the point of using the same sound effects etc.

 jUNgle

Jungle music came out of the British hardcore scene (not from the reggae scene). Members of this scene had grown up on reggae via skinheads, punks and the rave scene. They took dub reggae and literally speeded it up, dubbing DJ chatlines over the top to give us early jungle. British blacks, confused that this was actually reggae, got into jungle in a big way. This brought a white backlash who felt 'this booyaka rubbish has to end' and they phased out jungle to introduce 'drum & bass' (an old reggae term). Jungle continued underground.

It has to be said that this confusion over jungles origin and affiliation drew a lot of people away from the dancehall scene. Jungle became a direct competitor and almost destroyed the dancehall scene in this country.

Jali

A Jali or griot is a travelling musician/dancer/singer who journeys across the land from patron to patron. They perform many tradiitonal songs recounting their (peoples) history or praising their patron. They also inform and express opinions on political and social issues. They are widely recognised as the root of todays DJ, rapper, kaisonian and maestro.