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African Rebel Music - Roots and Dancehall

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Well, two things are quite noticeable in the run-up of this article:
First, we´re very happy to be able to welcome back one of our "long lost children", namely our editor "killaswitch", who should be pretty well-known to everyone who´s been with us any longer than two years. Second, he took the chance to make his debut with one of the rare releases that come from the african continent, called "African Rebel Music - Roots and Dancehall" and shows a good profile of contemporary african reggae music.

Label: Out Here Records
Artist: Various
Title: African Rebel Music - Roots and Dancehall
Avail: 01/2006
Playtime: 72:57 min

Rating: [XXXXXXXXXX]

Africa... There is hardly any reggae artist, assumed that he is considering himself more or less "conscious", who hasn't dedicated at least one song to the Black Continent, expressing his desire to go back to the "motherland" or at least to witness its shores. But what is about reggae music originating in Africa? Seke Molenga & Kalo Kawongolo cooperating with Lee Perry in 1979 made the world kinda aware about African roots music, and over the decades there have been a few international shooting stars hailing from Africa, like Lucky Dube and, most prominent, Alpha Blondy, but all in all, African reggae music is a white spot on the music map. The rhetorical enthusiasm about Africa is absolutely contrary to actual care for African reggae music. One can join in with Prince Mohammeds a.k.a. George Nooks' lament of 1979, "No One Remembers Africa"...

Well, some do remember. The German label Out Here Records promotes contemporary "urban african sounds", showing how the contemporary "black music" of the Western hemisphere gets perceived and performed in Africa. After some interesting African hip-hop compilations, now they come up with "African Rebel Music - Roots and Dancehall" - a manifold presentation of what is going on on the continent in terms of reggae, dancehall and related genres. Jay Rutledge brought together 18 very diverse tracks from 12 different African states, combined with neat packaging and a very informative booklet. The obvious already-mentioned superstars are left out, instead the listener gets an overview of the most interesting talents, newcomers as well as overlooked veterans. A few names are common for the European reggae head though, like Tiken Jah Fakoly, the recent hit wonder Rebellion The Recaller, or the everlasting Bantu.

A few tracks are cooperations with western producers, like H2O's contribution produced by the legendary Jazzie B (of Soul II Soul fame), and 994 Crew's "Bad Boy" put over a Silly Walks riddim. But most tracks are genuine African productions, and they sound pretty solid. Musically, every facet is represented, from heavy one-drop riddims, over acoustic guitar singing, to hardcore dancehall somewhere between Bookshelf and Divali yet with a very unique touch. I guess, everyone can find his favourite track amongst this diversity of styles. For me, it's hard to pick one or even a few - some tracks leave a lesser impression on me than others, while some are real ear candy, but all of them bear a certain charm.

Spoiled a bit by romantic African clichés, I expected to hear more "tribal" tones in these tracks, more chanting, drumming and whatnot. Instead, the influence by past and present Jamaican productions is obvious. Especially the rough vocal style of the bobo dread school laid an impact on
quite some recent African performers, and many modern riddim techniques haven't passed the Black continent unnoticed. Yet the tracks bear a heavy African imprint - first of all due to the countless native languages, going hand in hand with French and English. Lyrically, there is quite some African consciousness going on - but performed inmidst the continent, tunes like "Africa Unite" and "African" make a different impression than all the countless Jamaican afrocentristic hymns - and somehow they make more sense. Especially the latter tune by H2O is quite impressive in that aspect, dealing with being African and those who claim to be. Further comparing to the Jamaican "original" can notice some peculiar lyrical details: Danfo Drivers praise the sensimelia as "coming from Jamaica", while Jamaican sensi hymns rather use to refer to it as an "African herb"...

While (luckily?) not fulfilling any "tribalistic" expectations, Reggae and dancehall in Africa seems a tad more open-minded than its Jamaican or even European counterpart. Especially close ties with hip-hop are noticeable, not as much through instrumental arrangement as in a large number of hip-hop MCs as collaboration partners. And, contrary to countless bad examples in reggae history, here rappers and deejays/singers go together really well, enriching each others' styles.

This compilation can be seen as an enrichment for every reggae connaisseur's musical horizont. One can hope that also many of those who wear heavy African maps around their neck will get aware of what is going on musically on the Black Continent, which deserves far more attention, not only in terms of music.



Tracklist:

1. Peter Miles - Owange RMX
2. East African Reggae Bashment Crew - Africa Unite
3. 994 Crew - Bad Boy
4. Tiken Jah Fakoly - Tonton d¦America
5. Leo Muntu - Whachita over
6. Prince Dully Sykes - Handsome
7. H20 ft. Zuhz - African
8. Mad Melon & Mountain Black (The Danto Drivers) - Sensimil
9. Necessary Noise - Bless my room
10. Baay Sooley ft. Carlou D & Country Man - Wouty Zion
11. Bantu ft. PBS - One vibe one flow Pt.2
12. Alif - Wooyo
13. Rebellion the Recaller ft. Suns of Light - We must rebel
14. Sydney Salmon & the 12 Tribes of Israel Band - Shashamane
15. Teba - Gatyeni
16. Small Axe ft. Robert Slay - Love somebody
17. Batman ft. Gogome - Lambori

Further Information:
Record Info
Out Here Records Official Website

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