Reggae music lovers (in the Netherlands): Hobbol Backawall

How people got to be reggae music lovers or fans has always fascinated me. Maybe partly because reggae still is off/outside the mainstream, also in the Netherlands. It is not found that easily, let’s just say. It requires (to a degree) an extraordinary life path: that is, different from copying the masses, or simply following what’s commonly on television or the radio.

Reggae has of course since decades gone international and widened its fan base, but I have known individually quite different reggae fans within the Netherlands. Black and white (and Asian, or mixed etc.). Males and females. Old and young. Some with little education, some highly educated. Of different class backgrounds. Some combine liking reggae quite equally with other genres (e.g.: some with African, funk, soul, some with hip-hop, some even with non-black music genres), while others on the other hand adhere almost “strictly” to reggae music, and do not get into much else. Some like roots reggae more than dancehall or vice versa. There are even reggae fans – believe it or not - who do not smoke the “ganja herb”.

Furthermore, some have an interest or sympathy for the related subject of Rastafari, some do not, or even despise it. The latter, despise, I find somewhat odd since Rastafari is not the same as reggae, but is nonetheless connected to it.

These differences (and similarities) between and among reggae fans/lovers intrigue me, also in relation to personal backgrounds. That’s the reason why I would like to interview specific individuals who love reggae.

Before this I have interviewed 10 persons – reggae lovers I know, “breddas” (meaning “brothers”, or "friends" in Jamaican parlance) of mine – here in the Netherlands.

I started the series on this blog with a post of June 2012, when I interviewed Abenet. In April of 2013 I interviewed Bill. After this I interviewed Manjah Fyah, in May 2014. For my blog post of August 2015, I interviewed, somewhat more extensively, (DJ) Rowstone (Rowald). In August 2016, then, I interviewed Vega Selecta. In October 2017, I interviewed DJ Ewa. Then, for my post of September 2018, I interviewed for the first time a woman, namely Empress Messenjah or Empress Donna Lee. In August 2019 I interviewed another woman, namely Sound Cista. For my blog post of September 2020 I interviewed another Reggae-loving woman, French but living in the Netherlands, Selectress Aur'El.

HOBBOL BACKAWALL

This time, I interview a “bloke” again (I mean, a man: just wanted to use the word bloke), whom I encountered in the Reggae scene in Amsterdam. I saw him in several places in (roughly) the decade 2010-2020, but mainly at events of the (Michelle van Boekhout Solinge-led) Black Star Foundation, organizing Reggae festivals/concerts and selecta/dj sets in and around Amsterdam. People like Johnny Osbourne, Lone Ranger, as well as "new school" artists like Exile Di Brave, performed then in the Netherlands.

At some events Hobbol Backawall was “selecta” or deejay, playing mostly Roots Reggae – strictly from vinyl. He even “doubled” at times as Dee-jay (vocalist) in the Jamaican sense, “toasting” vocally over Riddims, to nice effect. I liked the flow and overall style, but also his selection of Reggae songs, not dissimilar to my tastes.. some “overlap” let’s say, alongside – interesting – differences.

I soon found out his real name was Remi, but that he was known also under the nickname “Hobbol”. The name of his "sound" was/is "Back-a-wall movement”. That name seems to refer to a former part of the downtown ghettoes in Kingston, Jamaica, known colloquially as “back-o-wall”. It was since the 1950s known as a poor, neglected slum in downtown Kingston, inhabited by Rastafari adherents, at the place of where is now Tivoli Gardens, which in turn was built after 1963 (I have visited it: now with - decaying - apartment buildings, but still a poor ghetto). Interesting reference, anyway.

Over time I got to speak more with Hobbol, about where he lived, what he did, etcetera. He told me he lived in Medemblik, a small town, about 60 km north of Amsterdam in the North Holland province (a part known as “West Frisia”).

Rurally, and outside the urban hustle and bustle, but Hobbol seems to travel around, also as selecta.

Also because I usually enjoyed his selecta sets, I find it interesting to get to know more about Hobbol Backawall as a person, and his Reggae tastes and journey.

QUESTIONS

Where were you born and did you grow up?

I was born in Utrecht, and after many wanderings ended up living in Medemblik.

Since when (age) do you listen Reggae music?

More or less since my 13th year, Bob Marley died, and was played a lot on the radio. I immediately got pleasantly addicted. Doe Maar played a part as well, but also UB40 and Revelation Time.

What attracted you to it, then?

That music.. lovely!. Felt as if I was coming home. Until that time, I only listened to the radio, and to records that my parents or older brother had.

What other music genres did you listen to?

On the radio you mostly heard Pop music, and my parents mainly conveyed to me Protest singers, and 1960s music. Through my brother, I got to know Queen, as well as the Stones and the Beatles.

Has there been a change in your musical preferences since then?

I almost entirely listen to Reggae and related, and in the time that I deejayed/selected I interchanged New Roots with classics, nowadays I listen more to Roots Reggae and older.

Do you have any preferences within the broad Reggae genre? Does, e.g., Digital Dancehall appeal to you as much as Roots Reggae?

There is undoubtedly good Digital Dancehall out there, but it is not “my thing”. I love Roots Reggae very much, not just its Rockers sound, but love also tunes that are about something, and have a positive message. I further also like Rocksteady and Ska from the 1960s-Early 1970s.

Since when are you a Reggae selecta/dee-jay?

Since I went for the very first time with a crate of albums/LPs to a camping site, to spin Reggae songs that evening. I liked that so much, that I immediately went to the nearby community centre with a mixtape (on cassette tape). This was after all more than 30 years ago..

Why the selecta name Hobbol Backawall?

I always played/spinned as Back-a-wall movement, and Hobbol is my nickname. The name Hobbol Backawall came to be, because Facebook required a surname or Last Name. That thus became Backawall.

Any special experiences or encounters over the years (e.g. with producers or artists?)

Too many to mention. I still enjoy meeting artists whose records I have in my collection. If I have to mention one thing, I can recall a car ride with Johnny Osbourne. That day we came terribly close to a car crash, only because I hung on Johnny’s lips so much, that I forgot to pay attention to Amsterdam’s busy traffic .

Are you active in other ways within the Reggae scene as well? E.g. radio, organizing events, design, or otherwise?

At the moment I am not doing much. I am still partly involved with Shamba Lion sound system, and gladly help out at events of the Black Star Foundation.

Do you play any musical instruments?

Unfortunately, no. I tried to master the guitar for a period, but unsuccessfully.

Do you have a preference for Vinyl or Digital/CD? As listener, and as selecta?

I myself only play Vinyl, and have never done otherwise. I never even connected my CD player.

Does the Rastafari message in much of Reggae appeal to you? How does this relate to your own background, or beliefs?

The message I get out of it, is “love”, and that appeals to me a lot. Thanks to the lyrics of Bob Marley, but also especially Brigadier Jerry and many others, I delved into and studied history, religion, spirituality, and Rastafari. I call myself a convinced Rasta, but if others call me that I still feel a bit “labelled”.

What kind of music (reggae) do you prefer to listen to now – at this moment -, what specific artists? Any new “discoveries” you would like to mention?

At home I mainly listen to Early Reggae, Rocksteady and Ska. If I’d had to mention one name now, it will be Slim Smith, but that might be because I just acquired a wonderful gem of his. He is known longer, besides that.

Inside of the Netherlands, I am a fan of Rapha Pico and of Lyrical Benjie, both great singers. I also appreciate the band Bagjuice, because they know how to “swing” and “rock’n groove”. I could mention many more, since there is quite some talent in the Netherlands, both singers as bands, and don’t forget the Sound Systems: more and more groups of friends build speakers together, and that’s great.

What is, you think, the effect of the long-lasting “corona crisis” on culture in general, and Reggae in particular?

The Netherlands are right now being ruined and run to a wreck, so also culture suffers. Even: especially culture. What surprises me most is that most people seem to accept all those “covid” measures, and still listen to those (proven) liars at the top. I specifically refer to the Reggae scene, with the same people singing along with Alpha Blondy’s song Apartheid is Nazism in a dancehall, not seeming bothered by the fact that others are not allowed entry into that same dancehall.

I am still optimistic, though, and think that in time things will improve. At one point, the people won’t take it anymore, and will rebel, or organize things for themselves.

Last summer, I could spin/select almost every weekend, in various places. No big festivals, but enjoyable, nonetheless.

Anything else you want to mention?

Cool that you invited me to appear in your blog. One love.

REFLECTION AND COMPARISON

I got to know more about Hobbol Backawall, and notice there are some similarities with my tastes in Reggae, but of course also own accents and differences. He seems to focus - qua tastes - more on the 1960s and (Early) 1970s - including Ska and Rocksteady -, I myself a bit more on the period 1974-1983, though I appreciate some older Rocksteady as well.

Hobbol, as selecta, played/spinned however from various periods, old and new. Indeed, I remember him playing New Roots (Capleton, Sizzla, Tarrus Riley, etcetera), even some (Reggae) “club hits”, alongside older tunes (like Roots). More importantly, the songs he selected were mostly good and groovy. I rocked my body line!

Also similarities with me, in Hobbol’s route toward Rastafari, through Reggae lyrics, along with self-study, seeming gradual and organic, like in my case.

Hobbol got into Reggae around his 13th year (early 1980s), I around my 11th year (since 1985). The Dutch Reggae- and Ska-influenced band Doe Maar – not the “realest”, but nice and adequate - I only got to know years later, but UB40 I knew then. I guess that after Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, I soon got further into the Jamaican “real thing” (Wailing Souls, Gregory Isaacs, Don Carlos, Ijahman, etc.). Only after that I encountered bands like Revelation Time, but I always listened to it openly, not as an uber-critical "Reggae snob".

Apparently, Hobbol made a similar musical journey, with different accents: I did and do not listen very much of Brigadier Jerry or Slim Smith, only a few songs, but mainly because of time constraints.

We also have in common – as selecta’s – that we focus on vinyl, and that we vocalize (toast or sing) over instrumental/dubs. I also use percussion intruments. So, well versatile, haha..

Corona

The “corona policies” have become to me what the jailhouse is in Gregory Isaacs’s song Out Deh, wherein Isaacs sings: “I was tired of the jailhouse, but the jailhouse wasn’t tired of me”. I am tired of them, - it's probably all deceptive nonsense -, but the policies won’t go away, with all those powerful "Babylon" forces behind them. Not easily, anyway.

Hobbol neither agrees with the lockdowns and other corona policies, as he stated openly elsewhere too, doubting like other skeptics - like myself - whether these really have to do with health, or rather with elite “control” or economic gain. He also fears a "medical apartheid" related to the promoted/marketed "vaccines"/gentech injections, to which he referred in one of his answers.

Besides the probably realistic - but depressing - question of who benefits from such a “hyped-up virus” under false pretenses – my educated guess: the 2% wealthiest people of the world – and in what way, these international lockdown-based corona policies since March 2020 were especially negative and detrimental for “culturally active” people. Especially those in "culture" for culture itself, and not for the money.

Those culturally active, after all, love live music, actual parties and gatherings with human company, and “creating/making culture” (music, events, dances etc.). Under the lockdown regimes (with NO proven efficacy against the virus, by the way), live concerts were mostly impossible, or made unpleasant (having to stay seated at Reggae concerts?), for reasons that were a lot, but definitely not based on science or even health/infection risk

Anyway, both Hobbol and I were indeed “culturally active” in the Reggae scene years ago, organizing, or as selecta, and I also as musician performing at times. That all was largely disrupted due to the lockdown policies.

Many of us, though, have found - out of necessity - creative ways to continue - and share! - our passions or express our talents: live shows forbidden or molested by “Babylon”?, then musicians redirect energies toward more studio work - and some to "spectacular", party-like video clips, haha -, sometimes with others, continuing to create and compose. Of course, online deejay/selecta sets “exploded” on the Internet since those lockdowns, also in the Reggae scene, thus continuing selecting/mixing, and somehow interacting with an audience.

Rent-A-Selectah

Hobbol also came with the good idea to operate as a type of mobile selecta, calling it "rent-a-selectah", travelling toward people with turntables and records, for small-scale or private parties, as selecta and “sound”.. a bit closer to the “real thing” – one can say – than another online/Internet set. He also "toasts" on such occasions, sometimes together with others, such as Black Star Foundation associate (and good toaster/chatter) Jahforth.

A good substitution, such "pop-up", mobile sound systems, and perhaps even an added remaining possibility.

Yet, above all, I personally hope that all those nonsensical, non-scientific government restrictions on free culture and human gathering will end as soon as possible, to enjoy “sound systems” - or “live music” by musicians - as they are meant to be enjoyed and lived: totally free, and with your whole body and essence: whether private, small parties or public, big ones with many people, and if desired deep into the night..

In other words: as Reggae parties have always been, up to those lockdowns/curfews. Parties/shows at which I could easily meet people like Hobbol Backawall, and many more bredren and sistren over the years.

Reggae music lovers (in the Netherlands): DJ Ewa

INTRODUCTION

How people got to be reggae music lovers or fans has always fascinated me. Maybe partly because reggae still is off/outside the mainstream, also in the Netherlands. It is not found that easily, let’s just say. It requires (to a degree) an extraordinary life path: that is, different from copying the masses, or simply following what’s commonly on television or the radio.

Reggae has of course since decades gone international and widened its fan base, but I have known individually quite different reggae fans within the Netherlands. Black and white (and Asian, or mixed etc.). Males and females. Old and young. Some with little education, some highly educated. Of different class backgrounds. Some combine liking reggae quite equally with other genres (e.g.: some with African, funk, soul, some with hip-hop, some even with non-black music genres), while others on the other hand adhere almost “strictly” to reggae music, and do not get into much else. Some like roots reggae more than dancehall or vice versa. There are even reggae fans – believe it or not - who do not smoke the “ganja herb”.

Furthermore, some have an interest or sympathy for the related subject of Rastafari, some do not, or even despise it. The latter, despise, I find somewhat odd since Rastafari is not the same as reggae, but is nonetheless connected to it.

These differences (and similarities) between and among reggae fans/lovers intrigue me, also in relation to personal backgrounds. That’s the reason why I would like to interview specific individuals who love reggae.

Before this I have interviewed 5 persons – reggae lovers I know, “breddas” (meaning “brothers”, or "friends" in Jamaican parlance) of mine – here in the Netherlands.

I started the series on this blog with a post of June 2012, when I interviewed Abenet. In April of 2013 I interviewed Bill. After this I interviewed Manjah Fyah, in May 2014. For my blog post of August 2015, I interviewed, somewhat more extensively, (DJ) Rowstone (Rowald). In August 2016, then, I interviewed Vega Selecta.

DJ EWA

This time, already October of 2017, I interview another “bredda” of mine, that I know from the Amsterdam reggae scene. It is DJ Ewa (Iwan Huyck).

I have known him in fact for years, having been to many events where he was DJ/Selecta or organizer, including Café the Zen (Amsterdam East), but also other places, such as Club Caprice (later King’s Club) or elsewhere in Amsterdam. I knew his connection to the erstwhile Easy Times coffeeshop: a famous reggae-minded place – with almost a legendary status among reggae fans. It had regular reggae DJ’s, was often quite busy, located at the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam. It stopped as such, though, around 2004.

It was a bit before my time, but many people I know (including an older brother and friends), mentioned it to me. DJ Ewa became a regular DJ there, I soon heard.

Ewa is therefore a kind of a "veteran" Reggae DJ in Amsterdam, being also somewhat older than other DJ’s, as well as than the other people I interviewed before for my blog.

Ewa (Iwan) was born and grew up in Suriname, and later migrated to the Netherlands.

Underneath, our conversation based on some main questions (in bold letters). His answers (translated from Dutch, here and there slightly reformulated) are the texts in italic. Additional questions or comments by me are furthermore in between what he says, and are not in italic (M: is me, Michel).

Since when (what age) do you listen to Reggae music?

Since I was around 12 years old, I think. At that time I lived a while with my sister (in Suriname), and my brother-in-law had a record player with a set of records. Not all I liked so much, but some music I liked: notably some Rock and Soul that my father used to play before too. Yet I also encountered at my sister’s something by Peter Tosh. That I loved, and it became a strong inspiration for me.

I also heard Bob Marley before a bit, but Peter Tosh caught my attention much more at first. From that I got to other reggae: Bob Marley among them.

What appealed to you in reggae music (or Tosh)?

What attracted me to Tosh were his voice, as well as his lyrics. He had really “deeper” lyrics. Already since young I was a kind of a “deep” thinker about things, and that touched me, connected me to Tosh’s music as well. I analyzed his lyrics and found personal things. Peter Tosh was my biggest inspirer.

This influence extended to my affinity for sunglasses: I was influenced in wearing them by Peter Tosh, often wearing specific sunglasses too. You notice that in photos of me..

M: After that came other Reggae?

Yes. After Tosh, I found Bob Marley also interesting, and a while after that I also began to listen to and love Ijahman Levi.

Ijahman (Levi), I found, had someting peculiar, and unique to me. Something I hadn’t heard yet in other music: it is a “sigh” that you hear in almost all of his songs.

M: He has a beautiful voice, of course.

Yes. And he sighs even while he sings, consciously. I had not heard that yet of any other artist. It’s in most of Ijahman’s songs. It’s almost like he sings “Blues”, I think.

M: Ijahman Levi certainly made some classic, enduring songs..

For sure..

M: Some critics claim that Peter Tosh had made some albums of “lesser” quality as well. But that is a matter of taste, of course..

That is indeed just a matter of taste. He preferred going his own way, instead of being directed by Chris Blackwell and commercial goals. I understood and respected that. While another producer before him, Lee Scratch Perry, sold Wailers records without legal artist credits. These ended up being pirated in Britain and elesewhere in Europe without any financial compensation for the Wailers. The Wailers (with Tosh) did not like this.

M: Perry once said about this that he just did that to get them a first entry in the market, as a way to promote the then unknown Wailers “out there”..

Yes, but only he (Perry) made money out of this then. Also because of such experiences, Tosh decided to go his own way.

What other music genres did you listen to then?

Alongside to Reggae, I also listened to other music, notably Rock. I liked Creedance Clearwater Revival, John Fogerty I liked. Good music I found in the work of Deep Purple, ACDC.

I served in the army (in Suriname) – at around my 20th year - and during that time I, besides to Peter Tosh and Bob Marley, also mainly listened to this kind of Rock, like ACDC, or also the Alan Parson’s Project, who were pioneers in “electronic music”.. They had good songs like Eyes In The Sky..

To be honest, at home I mostly tend to listen to this Rock music, more for work I make mixes focussing on Reggae. That’s more work to me than anything else.

M: Those Rock bands have slower songs too

Yes, even Deep Purple has nice “slower” songs. One of my favourites was also Eric Burdon (working with the band War), who also showed a Blues influence. I liked that too. The lengthy song Tobacco Road I liked: telling a whole story, starting Rock-like, slowing down to Blues. It tells an intriguing story about someone having a bad life amidst poverty and addiction, who gets a dream as way to change it, but has to make an “offer” (his life)..

M: I know that song..

In Suriname buses, usually music is played out loud, and I used to listen to this song during an approximately 18-minute bus trip in Suriname, but the song was not yet finished when my trip ended, haha.

Further, I like Talking Heads too. I sometimes look up their old video’s on YouTube..

David Byrne is crazy.. in a fun, good way..

M: And Surinamese music: kaseko or bigi poku?

I never felt too much affinity for that. It’s not really my thing. Although, when I used to go to the Surinamese interior – I am not really a city person - , also when I served in the army, I visited Amerindian and Maroon villages, and experieneced their folk music in the pure, traditional form. That I really enjoyed: pure and authentic. Amerindian music, and the Aleke music in Maroon villages: in their orginal cultural context and real life: that I appreciated: really experiencing it, instead of just listening to it.

Fantan Mojah also made a Aleke song, by the way..

M: Funk and other things?

I also encountered Funk, Disco, and Soul, popular at that time in Paramaribo. I knew a then well-known DJ in Suriname, DJ Lord, and his son. His son took over when his father died and organized parties, I then started to play/spin and mix records for the first time as a DJ, taking over from him at times, when he e.g. wanted to dance with women.. I played/mixed mainly what was most popular then: soul, funk, disco.. My earliest DJ efforts..

At that time I also used to dance in a dance group, dancing disco, and later even modern ballet. Modern ballet had some unusual moves for us, and we could not take it seriously and only laughed, haha. That dancing stopped for me when I really started to play/deejay.

I was then about 16 years of age, when I had these first DJ experiences..

Those were my first DJ steps, but around my 20th year, I had to serve in the army for a few years (late 1970s), just prior to to the (1981) coup. I had a good time, but could not do much with music.. I listened to it , though, in-between and during expeditions: mainly Rock, but also Peter and Bob..

Later, when I came to the Netherlands, my interest in Reggae as such increased.

Do you have any preferences in the broad Reggae genre. Does e.g. Digital Dancehall appeal to you as much as Roots Reggae, for instance?

Generally within Reggae my taste is also quite broad. However, I think the classic Roots Reggae, the old school,: is still the best.. I also like the recent Roots Revival, New Roots by Chronixx, Kababa Pyramid and others. I think that is a good generation. For a period you had not much in that Roots area, most artists did Dancehall, with few exceptions. Now I like that there is a group of good New Roots artists..

I like the fact that within Reggae there is much variation: much to choose from.

M: How does this translate to your selection as Reggae DJ/selecta?

I think I am one of the few DJ’s/selecta’s who plays different kinds of Reggae. Many of them tend to play just one subgenre: Dancehall, Dub, Roots.. I vary.. This also depends on where or for who I play/spin.. I often adapt to the audience, despite my personal taste even.

In the South of the Netherlands I tend to play more Roots. In Amsterdam and the Randstad (the urban, densely populated part of the Netherlands between Amsterdam, Utrecht and Rotterdam) more mixed, also Dancehall.

I have organized for a time Roots parties with regular live acts even, such as in de Heilige Zeug (Warmoesstraat) in Amsterdam. Few of the people that I know came.. Other Roots parties I played at had few Roots Reggae-minded people in the audience, and more young people. I then switched to Dancehall. Roots Reggae fans then started to think I do not play Roots.. It made me hard to “categorize” as DJ/selecta for many..

In the same vein, they would never invite me for those Dub Reggae minded DJ events, while I have many Dub cd’s and records, even preparing them for my relative, vocalist/singer MC Priti Pangi (Journy). Yet, they do not know that Dub side of my collection..

How did you develop as DJ/Selecta after those first steps as DJ around your 16th year?

I grew into it . After those first steps around my 16th. When my sister or nieces had birthdays or parties, I sometimes played as DJ. Then mainly vinyl singles..

Not always the guest liked what I played: many expected Surinamese music, and I never played that. Of Surinamese music I only liked Papa Touwtje. There are also nice reggae developments recently, though, in Suriname..

M: That Kaseko is a tradition worth conserving, I think. I see sometimes instruments used, you do not see often: a wooden log for instance..

Yes, certainly. However: live it is often much better than when I hear it on the radio. There are certainly good musicians in Suriname..

You came up with the term Easy Time Crew, that you respresent. This refers to the former reggae-minded café / coffeeshop Easy Times. This was located at the Prinsengracht (not far from the Leidseplein). A bit before my time, but I heard a lot about it. What was so special about it?

Well, it was a real reggae place: open all week, and every day of the week they played reggae. Friday’s and Saturday’s they created a dancefloor with regular dee-jay’s (selecta’s). DJ Aya used to play there a lot, followed later by me.. Since the late 1990s, I played there regularly, up to around 2004, when Easy Times stopped as Reggae-focussed place. I therefore later came up with the term Easy Time Crew, referring to that past there, as DJ at Easy Times in Amsterdam.

It was a very popular and often busy café/coffeeshop for a period among Reggae fans in Amsterdam, even making nearby places switch to Reggae after Easy Times closed for the night: to attract the Reggae fans that visited Easy Times. Reggae artists even visited and performed at Easy Times: Junior Kelly and Glen Washington to name some.

It was influential in that sense. A bit comparable to Café the Zen (Amsterdam East) today: a reggae hotspot. Café the Zen, you might say, took that central role over a bit (also concerning some of the same people), in the Amsterdam reggae scene.. I am now mostly active in/for Café the Zen, alongside quite regular gigs elsewhere In Amsterdam or outside.

You play mainly from CD, as DJ. That is: instead of mp3 or vinyl. That is quite exceptional. How did you come to that choice?

Well, exceptional.. there are a few DJ’s playing CD’s, not just me. I prefer CD's – and more specifically WAV(e) files over MP3’s. The sound quality of CD (wav) songs is so much better. MP3 Pro improved the quality of mp3’s, yet remains still behind WAV’s though, quality-wise. I have a good player (Pioneer) and can mix/work well wit hit.

The best sound is of course vinyl. That’s what I opine too. Yet over time, as DJ/selecta travelling, CD’s became more practical for me: more easily transportable than vinyl albums and singles, and I started to take more and more CD’s instead. I stopped there for quality reasons: I could have switched to MP3s to be able to bring much more tunes to choose from. Yet, as I said: the quality is less. Plus: I like to maintain an overview of tunes. Not too much of them at once.

M: I notice that too.. I used to focus on Wav and CD's for years too, and later heard and made MP3s of my own songs, noticing immediately the lesser quality from Wav to Mp3. While others said it was barely noticeable.. I still noticed it to differing degrees, when listening songs..

Yes. Me too. An added reason is the respect for the artist. Some download/convert YouTube songs to MP3, but you can buy them too legally, via ITunes or otherwise.

M: “The album idea” I miss at times. People tend to think in songs in mp3, while maybe artists have a story they want to tell with a whole album, or it is interestingly representative for a specific period of their career. I heard some say for instance that Luciano’s album ‘The Messenger’ (1996) is great as a whole, while many only get to know a few songs of it. “Cherry picking” songs here and there, this way.

Yes, while an entire CD album is often also cheaper than buying the songs separately.

So, I keep on playing CD with Wav files. I never play MP3s, safe when there is some technical problem playing CDs: for that I take MP3’s on memory stick: just in case.

Do you combine your being DJ/Selecta with other creative activities?

Well, also arranging artists performing: I organized the performance of Verse Ital in Café the Zen, as well as, like I said, also other artists performing under the Easy Time Crew banner in other places too, together with others.

Besides this, and of course my activities as DJ / Selecta, I also am active in visual design, I make flyers, reggae-minded graphic design. This is to be found as Internet site under the name I & I Productions (https://www.facebook.com/easytimeproductions/), also to be found on Facebook. This design is connected to other Easy Time Crew activities. Further, I have a radio show on which I play reggae music, twice a month (Wednesday’s) at the online radio station http://www.royalzionhighness.com .

Further some other things, too.

Does the Rastafari message in much of Reggae appeal to you? How does this relate to your own background, or beliefs?

Well, Rastafari is very broad, with many branches. I am not someone who likes to be in a group. If I would define myself, I would call myself first and foremost a “rebel”. I like the message in Reggae often, but I like to go my own way. As a rebel.

M: That fits with your love for Peter Tosh: who was also known as a rebel..

Yes, haha.

M: Were you brought up religiously?

Yes. My family was and is very religious, very (Catholic) Christian. They raised me that way, and as a youth I followed a Bible study, obtaining even degrees to eventually preach. Yet, I stopped with it, because I asked too much question for them: like I said before, I was always very much “thinking” and researching. Questions such as: If God as Creator created everything, who created God? Questions like that. I remained curious.

Therefore, in seeking answers for myself, as well as to rebel somehow against my Catholic upbringing, I even joined other Christian groups – temporary- such as the Jehova’s Witnesses or Mormons.

M: Those religions: Catholicism, but also Protestantism, want you to be docile, to not think (for) yourself. You like to think for yourself, you told..

Yes. Since I was a child, I was even known within my family for having "foreseeing" visions.

I simply do not like too much “deification” of people, I guess. I respect people like Marcus Garvey and Haile Selassie. I see them not as “religious” figures, though. Marcus Garvey I consider as freedom fighter.

Moreover: I see “religion” as the origins of many wars in this world, a negative influence: the crusades and such..

People believe so much in things, that they stop thinking rationally. While I opine that you should keep on thinking yourself.

I can understand, on the other hand, that spirituality or belief can bring relief, or peace, to people’s minds, in cases..

M: Me too,. I can imagine people find comfort in spirituality, especially when “stuck” in life, somehow..

Yes. Further, the Bible - that I used to study - is very arbitararily made up historically, I have learned. Certain humans just chose certain texts over others. The Bible has been made too holy and unquestionable. Mary also wrote a book, I heard: it did not become known..

I do not see any religious leader for me in the world, preferring thinking for myself. Words of Selassie and Garvey have wisdom, I recognize that, but also words by people like Martin Luther King and Mandela. I see these all more as “prophets”.

Despite all this, I kind of admire Rastas/Rastafari-adherents. I find them in a sense heroic: it is not easy to be Rasta in this society; you will not have it easy.

M: That’s true: you set yourself aside/apart consciously. While “Babylon” is everywhere powerfully spread in society: at work, the music scene, you name it.

Yes. Therefore I have admiration for that life choice as Rasta. I also have good friends active in Rastafari branches, including an order called the Egyptian Order, focussing on Egypt historically, its African roots. Black pharaoh’s, Nubians, themes like that. I found that interesting, I must admit.. I began to understand its appeal. I learn things from that too

Are there any “new” artists, or “discoveries” in Reggae you would like to mention?

Well, Lenn Hammond is an interesting, good artist (related to Beres, indeed) who deserves – I think – a bigger audience in the Netherlands. He is not well-known and popular here, unlike in Britain. I also like an artist like Demo Delgado. I furthermore regularly get sent CDs by several artists: often some interesting things between it, such as the mentioned Demo Delgado..

Any more things you would like to mention?

I miss a sense of unity among Reggae DJ’s and organizers in Amsterdam. Before in Café Caprice (Amsterdam) where I played, or with later Cafe the Zen (Amsterdam) events, or elsewhere. I often organized events with other DJ’s, often younger than me, to promote them. In later reports they almost only highlighted themselves, not the others involved, neither giving me as DJ Ewa some credit. Helping to promote each other would be better, instead of each one seeking their own space, at the cost of others..

M: Like cowboys in a cowboy town, haha

Yes. I think that is not necessary.. I am a bit of a “loner” as a DJ and organizer, not very active in surrounding myself with a supportive “group”, maybe that’s my problem. Still, we could support each other more in the Amsterdam reggae scene, I think. Working together more.

REFLECTION AND COMPARISON

I found this to be a very interesting and insightful interview. It is not even that exaggerated to consider DJ Ewa as a true "veteran" in the Amsterdam reggae scene.

He is older than many other present Reggae DJ’s in the Netherlands, and than the other ones I interviewed. Logically, he therefore “lived” more and has more to say.

Interesting to learn about his time still in Suriname, how he served in the army, and his connections to Suriname. Of the people I interviewed up to now, he is the first Surinamer as such. Kind of odd, seeing the strong proportional representation of Surinamese people among reggae fans (and in the general reggae scene) in Amsterdam, being also a relatively large demographic in the Amsterdam area.

Readers may have noticed, though, that DJ Ewa has a strong own individual personality too, considering himself someone who loves to think for himself, as well as as a ”rebel”. He also admits being kind of a “lone operator” within the Reggae DJ-scene.

ROCK

That makes his story more interesting and idiosyncatic, I think. His affinity for Rock-like music, aside from his Reggae DJ work, may come as a surprise, and is perhaps not very common among Reggae fans, though neither that extraordinary. Several reggae fans I know like other music too, or switched temporarily to someting quite different. I myself am interested in music in the broad sense, study it all, and then choose what inspires me most. I often prefer Reggae, that is true, but listen to (or even play as percussionist on) various other genres too (Blues, Rock, Jazz). At one jam session, at the Waterhole in my hometown Amsterdam, I played percussion (improvizing) on a Creedance Clearwater Revival song I did not really know, or only vaguely, named Fortunate Son. I found that interesting to do. Ewa said he also liked the Creedance Clearwater Revival.

Besides, the other people I interviewed before liked other genres too, albeit to differing degrees.

EASY TIMES

Ewa’s “veteran” status indeed proved here that he had more to say and tell, including his time in Suriname, but also regarding the Easy Times coffeeshop as vivid reggae place at the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam.

I heard so many people talk mostly positively about it, including people close to me, that I really began to think I must have missed something great. I began to repent not having visited it before 2004, since I was a reggae fan already in the late 1980s, and could go out more in the 1990s (although I lived not in Amsterdam then, but not far): when I went to Amsterdam I only went to reggae concerts then at the Paradiso or Melkweg venues. I also heard there were occasionally criminals in the Easy Times coffeeshop, as elsewhere in Amsterdam, or some tensions, but not often, and the vibes were according to most mostly positive. DJ Ewa is connected to that legendary history of Easy Times, hence also his moniker Easy Time Crew.

CD

What sets DJ Ewa a bit apart as DJ is his focus on playing CD songs (Wave files), in a DJ/Selecta scene increasingly dominated by mp3 catalogues or, alternatively, vinyl aficionados.

Interesting, because I had such a CD period too, and deplore – like Ewa – the lesser quality of mp3 when compared to Wave.

VARIATION AS SELECTA

I heard DJ Ewa many times playing at clubs or elsewhere, and I tended to like his selection (always some relatively unknown songs in between more known ones, that I liked), and also noted the variation, he himself says he has as DJ or Selecta. One time at his session the focus was on New Roots, another time more Digital Dancehall than he usually plays.

That flexibility is good in itself, as is adapting to the audience, though you can go too far with it in my opinion. I myself am DJ/selecta with vinyl at times, as well. In selecting I of course think about what the audience might like, but often also think that some songs in my collection are so good that they simply need to be played.

DJ Ewa says, however, that he plays some of those songs he deems great too, and is thus not always just "crowd pleasing" as DJ/selecta.

So, I noted some similarities between me and Ewa in our Reggae tastes, while some of the Rock/Blues he mentioned I knew and liked too (Eric Burdon/War I had on cassette, I liked the Talking Heads).

There were also similarities, more or less, in us both being free-thinking loners, and rebellious.

SPIRITUAL THEMES

Regarding spirituality there were also some similarities but also differences. My parents were also Catholic, but not as strict Catholic as Ewa says his family was, and brought him up. My own (Spanish) mother was kind of critical and joking about the Catholic Church overall. She critiqued the Church’s sinister role during the right-wing Franco dictatorship that ended up making her younger days hard (and poor). At the same time, she taught me prayers (in Spanish) her mother taught to her, about Jesus, - perhaps for some structure in life/parenting - and my parents took me to church events/services regularly, though not too often. I also went to Catholic schools and Bible studies, that were relatively free and open in this modern, democratic time.

Ewa had, by contrast, a stricter religious (Catholic) upbringing. All the more admirable that he, already as a child, kept “researching” and thinking for himself, also about Christianity and religion, as a true rebel. Just like his also rebellious inspiration Peter Tosh, being also critical about Christianity’s role.

Regarding Rastafari, Ewa takes on a rational approach, eschewing deification and group thinking also within sections of the Rastafari movement. He appreciates, however, that the Rastafari movement is broad, and respects Haile Selassie and Marcus Garvey. He also admires Rastas for their heroic life choices in a (White, Western) society that, let’s face it, not always combines well with main Rasta values of e.g. equality, Africanness, and naturality.

OLDER AND WISER

The cliché is that when you get older, you get wiser. I personally think that not all people that get old get as a whole wiser – some do, some don’t –, but due to mere life experience you by definition have learned more, and inevitably obtain some more wisdom, as you get older. I certainly have noted this wisdom in the nice conversation with Ewa, who is older than the other reggae lovers I interviewed before for this blog, but also older than me. It was insightful and interesting for me.

Reggae music lovers (in the Netherlands): Vega Selecta

INTRODUCTION

How people got to be reggae music lovers or fans has always fascinated me. Maybe partly because reggae still is off/outside the mainstream, also in the Netherlands. It is not found that easily, let’s just say. It requires (to a degree) an extraordinary life path: that is, different from copying the masses, or simply following what’s commonly on television or the radio.

Reggae has of course since decades gone international and widened its fan base, but I have known individually quite different reggae fans within the Netherlands. Black and white (and Asian, or mixed etc.). Males and females. Old and young. Some with little education, some highly educated. Of different class backgrounds. Some combine liking reggae quite equally with other genres (e.g.: some with African, funk, soul, some with hip-hop, some even with non-black music genres), while others on the other hand adhere almost “strictly” to reggae music, and do not get into much else. Some like roots reggae more than dancehall or vice versa. There are even reggae fans – believe it or not - who do not smoke the “ganja herb”. Furthermore, some have an interest or sympathy for the related subject of Rastafari, some do not, or even despise it. The latter, despise, I find somewhat odd since Rastafari is not the same as reggae, but is nonetheless connected to it.

These differences (and similarities) between and among reggae fans/lovers intrigue me, also in relation to personal backgrounds. That’s the reason why I would like to interview specific individuals who love reggae.

Before this I have interviewed 4 persons – reggae lovers I know, “breddas” (meaning “brothers”, or "friends" in Jamaican parlance) of mine – here in the Netherlands.

I started the series on this blog with a post of June 2012, when I interviewed Abenet. In April of 2013 I interviewed Bill. After this I interviewed Manjah Fyah, in May 2014. For my blog post of August 2015, I interviewed, somewhat more extensively, (DJ) Rowstone (Rowald).

VEGA SELECTA

This time I interview yet another “bredda”, whom I met in the reggae scene here in Amsterdam. I encountered him at several reggae events in and around Amsterdam over the last years. I also knew he had more or less steady places/clubs (such at OT301 in Amsterdam West) where he was a Reggae DJ, or “Selecta” in Jamaican parlance. Hence also his name Vega Selecta. He played vinyl, I noticed. He tended to prefer to play Roots Reggae and Dub, and at times UK Steppers, as I remember it.

I knew him, furthermore, to be a part of “collective” of sorts, called the Zen Rockers, a group of Reggae Selectors, with international backgrounds (French, Dutch, Polish a.o.) spinning records at events and in clubs/locations in different parts of the Netherlands. Interesting and nice how these Zen Rockers’ organized sessions at times also included people playing instruments (I recall a saxophone, a melodica, percussion), over “dub-wise” tunes.

In addition to this, I also knew about Vega Selecta’s sincere interest in Rastafari and its spirituality. Beyond this, I knew not that much about him. So, an interview seemed to me a good idea!

He was and is quite busy, but made time to answer the questions underneath, I sent him:

1. Where are you from, and how long are you now in the Netherlands?

Bless Up! Am living in Netherlands for 10 years. I come from Poland.

2. Since when (what age) do you listen to reggae music?

Since the age of 17 .

3. Where (did you get into it)? Were their differences in the reggae scenes between the places you lived?

I man grow up with punk rock music. Punk scene in Poland was big in the 80s and early 90's. Many punk bands played reggae songs, and to go around censorship - they could not sing about the Communist system - they sang about Babylon. In the 80’s in Poland were formed such reggae bands as Baksish, Daab, Izrael, RAP. Some members of these bands come from punk formations. Punk and reggae was always connected. Even if you spelled reggae in Polish you get ,,rege''. On punk festivals reggae music was always present. At one such festival, Jarocin, I heard for the first time a cover of the song ,,Exodus'' from Bob Marley. It was the beginning.

4. What appealed to you in reggae at the time (when you got into it)?

What appealed to me in reggae.. I think harmony with the heart beat, and the strong message.

5. What other music genres did you listen to then?

Still like to listen to punk, hardcore, jazz, funky, jungle, drum n bass, ethno music..

6. Has your music preference changed since then ?

Like I said, I still listen to different types of music, but dubbing is a must.

7. Since when are you a reggae selecta/dj?

With two of my friends we started Dread Lion Crew in 2001. First we spinned just for friends. Later we organized and played many parties in Poland.

7. Do you play both vinyl and digital discs?

Strictly vinyl.

8. Do you have specific preferences within the broad reggae genre?

I love Roots and UK steppers style.

10. Do you play musical instruments?

In my free time djembe.

11. Does the Rastafari message within (much) reggae appeal to you? How does this relate to your background, and your own spirituality?

Yes, anyone who attentively listens to Jah music, will find this message. Live in harmony with our planet, with others, and with myself.

12. What kind of music (reggae or otherwise) do you listen to at the moment/right now? What specific artists? Any new musical “discoveries” you would like to mention or recommend?

Exactly at this moment Willie Williams –,,Freedom Time'' comes out of my speakers.

I can further recommend Alpha & Omega, Aba Shanti, Jah Shaka, Big Youth, U-Roy, Eccleton Jarrett. For new productions please check the labels: Partial Records, Roots Temple, and Conscious Sounds.

13. Any other things you want to mention?

Give thanx for the life we live in. Blessed Love!

REFLECTION AND COMPARISON

Well, I now definitely learned a bit more about the person behind Vega Selecta. Interesting how yet another geographical background is here the case, after the persons I interviewed before, who had Ethiopian, Dutch, Italian, or Guyanese backgrounds, even though some were born in the Netherlands. Vega Selecta is in turn from Poland, living now in the Netherlands. This truly shows how Reggae "gone international”, which can be considered quite a known fact by now.

An interesting dimension specific to Vega Selecta’s case is the Communist context of censorship in relation to Reggae’s “protest” lyrics, he described. The Rastafari term “Babylon” (essentially meaning an oppressive Western or other system) proved to be a good "channel" for rebellion against the system, while still going around that same system’s censorship, common in such (Communist) dictatorships, like in Poland at that time.

PUNK

The strong connection between Punk and Reggae in the Polish scene is also remarkable, though not totally unique. Also in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s there were connections between the Punk and Reggae scenes, notable in activities of John Lydon (a.k.a. Johnny Rotten) or the band the Clash, working with Jamaican artists like Mikey Dread and others, and covering Jamaican songs. Many reggae songs became cult hits not just among Black Britons, or Britons of Caribbean descent, but also among many British Punks, and similar "protesting" lower class-subgroups in Britain. Culture's "Two Sevens Clash" for example.

A rebellious, anti-systemic spirit among the youth united these scenes, apparently. It seemed to have worked out in a specific way in Poland though, mainly – I imagine – due to the absence of a large Jamaican migrant community and an independently formed reggae scene, as there was in Britain. But that’s understandable.

From a musical perspective the Reggae-Punk link seems to make less sense – with Punk’s often “Rock guitar” focus - though there are often similarities in “feel” or “energy”.

Anyway, in the “localization” of Reggae in Poland – as occurred everywhere - the local Punk scene played a role. Along with this, came other aspects, such as language. I know about Reggae bands in Polish, just like Manjah Fyah, in an earlier interview I had with him, mentioned Reggae bands in Sicily singing in the Sicilian dialect.

AGE

The teenage years tend to be formative years in shaping tastes and preferences for the rest of a human’s life. Scientific studies even have shown this. This applies of course also to the music one prefers and “sticks to”, so to speak. Vega Selecta said he was about 17 when he got into Reggae. Abenet, whom I interviewed before was also about 17 when he really got into Reggae, and Manjah Fyah about 16. I myself was about 12, as was Bill, whom I also interviewed. DJ Rowstone (with Guyanese parents), grew up with Reggae, but returned to it more intensely, also in his teens.

If there is a difference between Early or Late Teens, I don’t know. The brains – I understood – are not fully formed until a human is about 21, so either way Reggae may have helped shape the brain. I think that’s a good thing, haha.

As other people I interviewed, Vega Selecta prefers vinyl records over CD/digital records, even adhering “strictly” to it, as he said.

Vega Selecta seems to have a sincere interest in Rastafari, and knowledge about it. In his way he wants to live and express that too, i.e. at times through Nyabinghi drumming and chanting. Some other people I interviewed respected Rastafari, but with a bit more distance, but each person makes own choices, of course. He also plays Djembe, and regarding percussion and Nyabinghi (and of course Rastafari) he thus shares these interests with me.

WITHIN REGGAE

Like others among my interviewees, Vega Selecta is a Selecta (DJ). Like e.g. Bill, I interviewed, he likes Dub, alongside Roots Reggae and UK Steppers. He seems less interested in the Dancehall subgenre, also in selecting/spinning it, unlike DJ Rowstone (who does interchange it with Roots at times), or Manjah Fyah at times. Not everyone knows that also modern Dancehall records are often released in vinyl, by the way.

OTHER GENRES

Vega Selecta still likes listening at times to Punk music, alongside Reggae. This is understandable in light of the described Polish scene. I myself listen to other genres besides Reggae as well, though not really that much Punk, but each one has his or her taste, and accents therein. He also listens to Jazz and Funk, he said, and I at times too, as do other Reggae fans. I like also “ethno” music, as Vega Selecta called it, as I think it includes African polyrhythmic traditions and music, which relates also to my interest in percussion.

I am not the biggest fan of Jungle in the world, but some Reggae fans I know like it. Several reggae fans I interviewed also like Hip-Hop. I myself too a bit (more than Drum & Bass or Jungle anyway). Taste is however, of course, also something personal, depending probably on one’s trajectory and life experiences.

Anyway, I found it interesting to have learned more about Vega Selecta’s trajectory

Reggae music lovers (in the Netherlands): Rowstone

INTRODUCTION

How people got to be reggae music lovers or fans has always fascinated me. Maybe partly because reggae still is off/outside the mainstream, also in the Netherlands. It is not found that easily, let’s just say. It requires (to a degree) an extraordinary life path: that is, different from copying the masses, or simply following what’s commonly on television or the radio.

Reggae has of course since decades gone international and widened its fan base, but I have known individually quite different reggae fans within the Netherlands. Black and white (and Asian, or mixed etc.). Males and females. Old and young. Some with little education, some highly educated. Of different class backgrounds. Some combine liking reggae quite equally with other genres (e.g.: some with African, funk, soul, some with hip-hop, some even with non-black music genres), while others on the other hand adhere almost “strictly” to reggae music, and do not get into much else. Some like roots reggae more than dancehall or vice versa. There are even reggae fans – believe it or not - who do not smoke the “ganja herb”. Furthermore, some have an interest or sympathy for the related subject of Rastafari, some do not, or even despise it. The latter, despise, I find somewhat odd since Rastafari is not the same as reggae, but is nonetheless connected to it.

These differences (and similarities) between and among reggae fans/lovers intrigue me, also in relation to personal backgrounds. That’s the reason why I would like to interview specific individuals who love reggae.

Before this I have interviewed 3 persons – reggae lovers I know, “breddas” (meaning “brothers”, or "friends" in Jamaican parlance) of mine – here in the Netherlands.

I started the series on this blog with a post of June 2012, when I interviewed Abenet. In April of 2013 I interviewed Bill. After this I interviewed Manjah Fyah, in May 2014.

ROWSTONE

This time, I interview another “bredda” of mine. His name is Rowald Kiene, who is also known as (DJ) Rowstone. I met Rowald in the reggae scene in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It was in a reggae-minded club in Amsterdam, where he was dee-jaying, spinning reggae music at the moment. I believe it was Café Frontline, in Central Amsterdam. If I recall well it was around 2012 that we met, though we might have been in the same place before this.

Rowald was born in 1989, so he is somewhat younger than me (b. 1974), and Rowald is now thus about 26 years old. He was born in the Netherlands, and has lived his whole life in the quarter of Amsterdam known as Amsterdam South East. This quarter has relatively many Surinamese and other “Black” inhabitants, as may be a known fact. Rowald’s parents are however not Surinamese, but from Guyana. Guyana - formerly British Guiana - is of course a former British colony bordering Suriname to the west. Actually, what became British Guiana was for a time a Dutch colony (until 1815), before it became British, but that’s another story.

I have seen and heard him dee-jay with Reggae music, as Selector.. I liked his selection mostly. He varied nicely, I thought. Sometimes he tended to Lovers Rock, then he played some good Roots Reggae, or Dancehall. Besides this, I thought he had a pleasant way of presenting himself at events and parties he hosted: lively yet calm and accessible. Not much else of him I knew at first, besides that he lived in Amsterdam South East, and also liked reggae. I talked with him sometimes since then, about his study (finance/economics) and other more musical activities, and he seemed to have some healthy ambitions.

Yet, I still remained curious to know more about him, his goals and activities, also regarding reggae music. For that reason I asked the questions underneath. Under the questions you will find how he answered them to me (translated from Dutch). This is interchanged (between comma’s) with additional questions or remarks by me.

///Photo above: Rowstone and me in venue Melkweg, Amsterdam in 2013. Rowstone was DJ there at an event..///

Since when do you listen to reggae?

I have been raised with reggae, really. My parents are die-hard reggae lovers. My mother is a fan of Gregory Isaacs. My father fan of Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, and Freddie McGregor. Thus also tending in his (reggae) preference toward Jamaican “lovers-rock”. My father used to buy the Strictly The Best compilation CDs, and every year the Reggae Gold CD. So in my home reggae was played all the time.

(Also when you were a small child?)

Yes as a child, but also Dancehall and Soca. So hearing reggae was, when I was a child, normal for me. I did not value it so much, but saw it as just normal, of something that my parents liked to listen to. Not me, though, at that stage. I liked pop music more back then; the music that came on TV, on channels such as TMF and The Box. Notably hip-hop. I went through my own musical growth and saw reggae as something of my parents. Until I was about 15 years old, I therefore liked hip-hip more. Hip-hop and R&B was up to then more my thing. I listened to it with my brother and sister.

When I was about 15 (around the year 2004), reggae grew stronger as an influence on me. This began more or less with the album Welcome To Jamrock by Damian Marley – released in 2005 – that combined hip-hop and reggae, it was - you can say - hip-hop-influenced reggae. This caused me to listen more to reggae from then on, and in and around 2005 I also listened to Jah Cure (then in prison), and got to know about new reggae Riddims (instrumentals) that appeared in 2005. Many good Riddims, like Drop Leaf and Hard Times, re-used ever since, were released in 2005, and I appreciated these. So I started to listen more reggae, and also started to listen again to the reggae my parents used to play. Then I realized that what I had at home, that reggae influence, was, how can I put it, “special” or “valuable”.

My parents are Guyanese. From Guyana.

(There is indeed a strong reggae influence throughout the Caribbean region..)

Yes, Reggae, Dancehall, Soca, but also Indian music, were influences.

What appealed to you in reggae music?

Reggae is a feeling. When you are “infected” with it, you feel it more strongly. This also because its rhythmic structure differs when compared to standard pop music. In this sense it is “off” from music one is used to, and has an own unique rhythm. Once you grasp that uniqueness and know how reggae music is built up, you just can’t let it go.

Moreover, the more I studied reggae, the more interesting and intriguing it became for me, with all its subgenres. Lovers, but also Conscious Reggae, with (lyrical) attention to the philosophy of Marcus Garvey, pan-African ideas, return to Africa, self-love as the way to well-being. I became interested in this religious/spiritual aspect as well, and found it interesting that reggae had such deeper, conscious subgenres, besides just Lovers, or with lyrics on “boasting”, “making money”, getting girls, expensive cars, or ego. Bob Marley combined different subgenres also well, and set the standard high. With reggae you can go in different ways, and it is as a genre very broad. Before I started to study this and listen more to lyrics, reggae was to me just something that sounded nice.

What music genres did you further listen to then?

(You kept listening to other genres as reggae, also after 2005?)

Yes I do. I am still a hip-hop fan and like R&B. I also listen to House or Soca, all kinds of music at times.. This depends, like for other people, on my mood.. I also keep track with how modern hip-hop evolves: I like what Kendrick Lamar does, and like some Fusion efforts of hip-hop with electronic, and other music. Like Major Lazer, who mixes dancehall, reggae, soca, and electronic music in one whole. That is really something typical and innovative in today’s music.

Do you have preferences within the broad Reggae genre? Does for instance Digital Dancehall appeal to you as much as Roots Reggae?

Yes. It depends on mood and circumstances. As a dee-jay, I find that music lovers differ, but go more with a certain vibe. You have good Digital Dancehall, and not-so-good or bad digital dancehall. The same applies to Roots Reggae. When it’s good I can combine, as a dee-jay, digital Dancehall well with (good) Roots Reggae in the very same set, without this “disturbing” the audience. The emphasis for me is on quality.

(and Lovers Rock you play too, as dee-jay? I heard you play it at times..)

Yes, also. As a dee-jay you can on occasion be like Cupid: bringing people together in a amorous/romantic way. Lovers Rock is part of that. It depends on the vibe, whether I switch from one subgenre to another, and on the audience. If people seem to prefer hardcore Digital Dancehall, I play that for a while, but later I change again to Roots when it is too much and a calm is needed. Varying is important as a dee-jay.

But to further point at a difference between Dancehall and Roots: it is the case that very much dancehall music is released all the time. With new riddims appearing every day, and many artists “busting loose” on them. Not everything is of good quality, however. As a dee-jay/selecter you must go through all this to select what’s good. This can take up quite some time.

With Roots Reggae on the other hand, with a new release, you sense and notice that effort has really been put into it. Just like the difference between Fast Food and Soul Food. With the latter you put more time and love in preparing the food, specific ingredients, seasoning, and everything. Dancehall by contrast is often very fast, aimed at scoring a hit.

(Sometimes too fast?)

Yes. Although I appreciate the “club bangers”, I think the dancehall scene needs more artists with uplifting messages.

(More Dancehall is released than Roots Reggae?)

In my experience, yes. At times it can be too much, so much that some tunes or riddims do not even reach the audience.

(It is more fashionable, maybe, among young people..)

With Dancehall more “hit” songs are made, I think more money is to be made with it.

You play musical instruments? Which? For how long?

Yes. I play guitar. It has been for about 10 years that I have a guitar. At first I tried things out myself, aided by YouTube films or otherwise. About one and a half years ago I decided to approach a good friend of mine – a guitar player – Jah-Irie, who then started to coach me, and up to now still is my guitar mentor and teacher.

I got that inspiration also because it did not go well with my study (in financial economics). I took a sabbatical (a time off) from dee-jaying to finish this study. Yet while working hard I felt I made no progress in this. I started to wonder what would be a good way to enlarge my “mental, intellectual capacity”, as well as my concentration skills. I found that this is, among other things, possible by learning to play a musical instrument.

(Interesting. Seems plausible that it enhances intellectual capacity. I heard that stated before. I even think that with Percussion, which I study, you go to even deeper truths, beyond the reach of Babylon, you go the “heart beat” and such. Chording instruments like guitars are maybe a bit more systematic, but likewise educational for a person..)

Yes. Because to become better in it, you need to work hard, you need discipline, to concentrate..

(Yes, it is a good learning process..)

And it is also very good for your ego. In the beginning you’re not yet very good and make mistakes. But with a musical instrument it is the case that you learn from your mistakes. In a sense, the more mistakes you make, the better you become in time in what you do… It is not bad to make mistakes, in this learning process..

(Just continue and correct yourself, I do that too with percussion.. You perform on stage, actually give concerts as well, with the band DejaVu.. Does that go well?)

Yes, for sure.

(I have seen a concert by DejaVu, with you as guitar player, and it sounded good. I got the idea that you knew what you were doing..)

Haha, that is always nice to hear.. It all comes down to preparation, rehearsing, and perseverance..

Since when are you a reggae selector/dee-jay?

Since..2010.

(That’s not very long..)

No, no. Yet I had the ambition to become a dancehall and reggae dee-jay (selecta) for a longer time, even before this. I began with a MIDI Controller, making mixes at home. I was a “bedroom dee-jay”, you might say. I put mixes on YouTube.

Then..in 2010, I met Manjah Fyah (a Sicilian reggae/dee-jay selector, who then lived and played in Amsterdam). I was at times a MC for him, and in time he showed me how to be a dee-jay, showed me and inspired me about the real technique of mixing, including preparing sets, and how to make songs/tracks connect and flow over into each other. He played and did this back then with vinyl, 12 inch records, with no BPM (beats per minute) counter, but purely through listening,..which is very impressive.

In fact, I was active in it already, experimenting in dee-jaying more or less for myself, but it did not always go so well. Having observed Manjah Fyah in action I realized that that was the level that I wanted to reach in dee-jaying, the level that I needed to strive for. I remember going with Manjah to a gig where the venue only had one turntable. He didn’t complain and found a way to still mash up the place.

(I did not know that Manjah Fyah had a role in you becoming a dee-jay..)

Yes, he and Prof, (90 Degree Sound) are the real deal. Besides their residency at Café Frontline (in Amsterdam, Netherlands) they are very active in riddim production, cutting dubplates and hosting events.

(Some people think it is easy being a dee-jay, just playing records..)

No, because besides technology, you also have to understand people, sense situations, have a good timing.. And that’s only the DJ part of it. After a long period of practicing on my DJ skills, my biggest challenge was to perform for a real audience.

At first I started with YouTube recordings of my mixes and then slowly to organize a monthly party at Café the Zen (a reggae-minded club in Amsterdam, Netherlands). Not long after – around 2013 - I volunteered at a (Internet) radio station, called Hot-o-twenty, based in Amsterdam South East. I had a weekly radio programme on it called Bedrock, later on I also deejayed for another show called LionFace. From then on I dee-jayed more in clubs and bars, like also Café Frontline in Amsterdam, a place that I already mentioned..

So I did not really get Dee-Jay gigs in clubs just through friends who introduced me or knew people, as it often goes.. I “trod the rocky road” myself, you can say..

Do you have a preference for vinyl or digital? As listener and as selector/DJ?

(So you started as a dee-jay playing vinyl records..but now you play digital (mp3/wav) tunes as well as a dee-jay..)

Yes I do.

(Do you have a preference when it comes to sound? I mean, songs on vinyl sound different than digital ones. Is vinyl better regarding “sound” than digital, as some say?)

Vinyl sounds better, in essence. There is a technical reason for this..I am not very technical in this terrain, but I will try to explain it in my own words:.. The bandwith between high and low tones is much larger, with vinyl. So you hear the difference between high and low tones much better. While with MP3 files, to make a MP3 file, you actually have to “compress”, in order to get smaller files..but the sound is compressed in such a way, that you hear the layers between high and low tones less clear..

So, vinyl is basically better regarding sound quality, more potential and possibility sonically.. When you go back to how music is actually recorded, with high and low tones, you’d also want that on a medium.

(That is an interesting explanation and opinion. There are by the way many different opinions regarding about whether vinyl or digital (mp3, wav/cd) sounds better; some say it does not matter, etc...)

There is a logic to it, I find, why vinyl can be considered better.

(You yourself play both..vinyl and digital, I assume?)

Well, I must say, that to play/spin as dee-jay, I prefer tracks/records on digital media. Also, because it is very easy to take with me musical (mp3) tracks on my lap top or on USB sticks, it is easily searchable, I can do more with it.. It is much more practical, really..

I think I myself (born in 1989) am of a generation where we do not hear the difference between vinyl or digital sound, but older generations that were used to vinyl in e.g. clubs when going out, note the difference, and lament the poorer sound quality of digital, compared to the vinyl they knew..

So, to resume: to enjoy music myself I prefer vinyl, but to play as dee-jay I prefer digital..

Why the name (DJ) Rowstone?

Ehm, well.. It is my passion to “found” or “set up” things and projects. To build up and let grow..That’s it, a bit: I like to set up things, even with limited means, such as a party..and “stone” is a building, construction material.. I see the link like this: a stone can be used to build, but it is also something natural, present in nature.. Plus..it lasts very long, is very durable, sustainable material.. It also is there in the name Bedrock, I gave to parties for instance..

(Odd, I never saw the connection between the names RowSTONE and BedROCK.., but there is one of course..)

Yes, there is. I found the name Bedrock appropriate for a party focussed on Lovers Rock.. Then I had parties with the name Cornerstone…. So I stayed more or less in the “stone” vibe..

(Yes, from the material “stone”..)

Yes, the building material..it’s solid, “solid as a rock”,..massive..

(and Row – in Rowstone - is from your name Rowald, I imagine?)

Yes, from Rowald. I was supposed to be named Oswald after my grandfather. My father’s name is Oswald jr. When I was born, my mom put a stop to it because it became too confusing, and came up with Rowald.

(I thought before a while that it related to “rowing”, as of a boat. I was somewhat puzzled about the name Rowstone.. how can you row with a stone? Doesn’t it sink, unlike wood? I found it creatively imagined..but did not quite get the name. At first, at least..)

Hahaha.. I heard that very often. Or that it sounds similar to Rolling Stones for some reason. (laughs)

(..but in reality it’s from your name Rowald and “stone”..)

True, a stone, which is solid..

(That’s interesting as a symbol, I think.)

Does the Rastafari message in much reggae appeal to you? How does this relate to your own background, or faith or spiritual/religious beliefs?

These are several questions in one.. Let’s see, how to answer... I have been raised Catholic, and actually went to church, but when I reached adolescence, or: puberty, I put that largely aside and started developing myself.

Right now...I do not consider myself really as a Rasta, a Rastafari as such. Yet, I do have very much understanding and respect for the Rastafari faith and philosophy.

(So to some degree you relate, or feel a connectedness with Rastafari?)

Yes, certainly. This relates also to the “natural way of living” Rastas espouse. Not eating meat or fish, respect for all living beings. Also, the similarities with Buddhism, such as regarding the “ego”, letting go of your ego.. I use that as a guide in my life, yes, in my own way..

I also consider Haile Selassie and Marcus Garvey in and by themselves as interesting personalities, who certainly did good works, and set up important things. I would like to read more about Marcus Garvey, a good biography, for instance..

Since not long ago you also have become active as guitar player in a reggae band called Dejavu. How did that come about?

Well, like I told I have been playing guitar for about 2 years. I am active as guitar player in DejaVu since..September, 2014. I joined DejaVu in a later stage…the other members were longer active, actually first as a dance group, ..they danced. That’s how I knew them.. The core members of that group decided at one point to make music. At the moment I’m enjoying every experience. Music is a beautiful thing. Especially if you can make it with others.

(They were reggae-minded, also as dancers? DejaVu is specifically a reggae band, I heard..)

Yes, certainly. They are reggae-and dancehall-minded as well, of course. They used to perform at dancehall parties, for instance..

(Did you hear where the name DejaVu comes from?)

No, not really. That’s just how I knew them. If I think about it, a deja vu is a vision that already occurred. So if you see us performing, you are likely to have a deja vu, because of our different backgrounds as entertainers.

What music do you prefer to listen to in the present? What specific artists? Any new “discoveries” you would like to mention?

I like the new generation of reggae artists, like Protoje, and those under his “wings", like Sevana, Runkus. Kabaka Pyramid I like very much as well. Further.. Iba Mahr, Jah9..

(Sometimes they even use new, original riddims, like Jah9 on songs..)

Yes, and what someone like Chronixx does well is using old riddims, but updating/renewing them to fit the present times..like with the song Tenement Yard..

So, the new cohort, or current of (Jamaican) reggae artists.. Here in the Netherlands I like Rass Motivated very much. Also artists like Joggo, Ziggi Recado.. they also released some good albums and songs recently..

Shout out to all Dutch reggae artists and bands that show passion for the music.. like Rapha Pico, Jeremiah and the World District Band, Tjerk & the Liquid Sunshine, Black Omolo, Verse Ital, Priti Pangi, Heights Meditation, BagJuice, Two Times, Lyrical Benji, Leah Rosier, Fullanny, Rashanto, Iyobel, Nosjeman, Jr. Kenna, Mr. Patze, Censi Rock, Shockmann, Royston Williams, Papeman, Le Prince, Snikone, Jula and Kalibwoy. I find it interesting to see how much talent there is, if you come to think about it.

Any more things you would like to mention?

Well as a see-jay/selector and as a musician.. I must admit that since I play guitar, that my appreciation and respect for musicians increased. Not that I did not have it before.. but I feel that sometimes it is forgotten in the Netherlands reggae scene that musicians, also players of instruments, work hard, put a lot of effort in their art and music. They also work constantly to become better in what they do.. They just don’t seem to always get the respect they deserve, seem to be taken for granted.. So also “backing band” members have their own life stories, not just the normally more well-known singers..

And moreover..well it pleases me to see how Promoters are very active in the Dutch reggae scene, promoting artists and events or parties, organizing in the background..

(I notice that on Facebook and other social media as well..)

Yes, yes. Behind the screens they organize and are very active…Their work is also somewhat underappreciated, I think..

(When compared to “regular” office jobs, let’s say, such jobs are known among some people somehow as “party professions”, like they just love to go out and party and such.. while it’s actually work as well.. Musicians as well, for each concert they have to rehearse, for example. Some do not even realize that..)

True!. And not just before a concert, you have to rehearse constantly, as a continuing process, even without concerts. To keep up, rehearse and practice on new songs. To get it “tighter”, improve on it, this way you are seriously busy with it. Then when a concert comes, you are well prepared..

Further..I would like to thank you as reggae lover and supporter. Shout out to you (Michel)..

(No problem. I love to give attention to reggae and people active in it, e.g. through my blog..)

REFLECTION AND COMPARISON

Well, I reflected and compared already in between the questions, and commenting on what Rowald told me in person. Still, reflecting on the interview a bit more, I can say that I found our talk very educational and interesting for me. I certainly got to know more about Rowald/Rowstone as a reggae lover but also as a person, his life choices for instance. He explains certain things well, I must say, such as the difference between music on digital or vinyl media/carriers. He explained this better than other people I heard and read about it. Also what he told about his musicianship, and selecting as dee-jay was instructive for me, and nice to know.

Compared with the people I interviewed before, there were of course similarities and differences. All “reggae lovers” I interviewed, including Rowald, valued the “conscious” (Roots) Reggae as better, as more positive, and more lyrically uplifting than the “slackness” (violence, sex, ego) lyrics present in a part of Dancehall. This seems to explain in part why Reggae as a genre appealed to them, at least in part (along with the actual musical structure). All interviewees at least respected Rastafari, or (in cases) to a degree seemed to adhere to it.

Funny was further the link between Manjah Fyah, whom I interviewed before, and Rowstone, as Manjah Fyah influenced Rowstone toward dee-jaying, while according to Manjah Fyah himself he as DJ/Selector started around 2004, and Rowstone around 2010. Another interviewee, Bill, like Rowald prefers vinyl to a large degree, but Bill seems to play it more often as Dee Jay as well (combined with digital). Bill, like Rowstone, also plays guitar, by the way. Bill seemed to like Dub more than the other interviewees, while Rowstone seemed to focus relatively more on Lovers Rock. Also in other genres they listen to there were some differences between the people I interviewed, and e.g. in how they came to reggae, as each person is different, of course. They also have different cultural, or “ethnic”, backgrounds that could have influenced them. There were also age differences between the 4 interviewees that could be influential.

Comparing with myself, I recognized some things, because I know the Amsterdam reggae scene too of course. Rowald/Rowstone and me even go to the same clubs and concerts at times. Differences were also there. Rowald’s parents were actually reggae lovers, so he sought other things when growing up at first, different from his older parents, as many children do. Many other reggae lovers did of course not have parents who listened to reggae – or even knew what reggae is – so reggae became something they found themselves, from an “outer world”. In the wider Caribbean region (including in this case Suriname and Guyana), especially English-speaking parts, reggae is quite popular, so there is a chance that parents from there tend to listen it more than Dutch/European parents. This may also depend, though, such as on generation.

In my case, when I was growing up, there was music played sometimes, but mostly Italian songs (my father is Italian), or – more often - Spanish music (like Flamenco) and Latin American (especially Mexican and Cuban) music, by my Spanish mother. Through television, radio, and friends I since the 1980s got to know other genres (soul, funk, Stevie Wonder, reggae, reggae, reggae etc.).. So that’s a bit a different route.

Back to the vinyl issue: I actually started listening to reggae intensely when I was about 12 years old, around 1986: in the vinyl age. So I got into reggae through vinyl (as well as cassette). I also, like Rowald, in a later stage felt the quality of CD was less and too “artificial” when I started to listen to it, in the later 1990s. I saw, also like Rowald, nonetheless practical advantages of easily transportable mp3s and wav files. I even made some attempts at “making mixes” through certain music computer software (beyond just compilations), but that’s as far as I went with my “bedroom deejay-ing” - as Rowald called how he started.

Rowald plays guitar in a reggae band called DejaVu. My brothers also played string instruments (guitar and bass guitar, both acoustic and electric) – albeit with varying intensity - , so I chose something else, first a bit keyboard, later I concluded that percussion attracted me very much, besides singing at times.

The interesting thing about music, like reggae music, however, is of course the combination of different instruments and sounds toward an own musical art, in which rhythm is crucial, along with aspects like tones, melody, harmony, “soul”, culture, lyrics, but also human character or personality.

Either way, I am glad I got to know more about both the activities and the personality of Rowald, also known as Rowstone..

The Deejaying T(h)ing : historical overview of vocal techniques

The “Disk Jockey”, or shortened: DJ, Dee Jay, or Deejay, is an important figure in Jamaican music. Yet, the term Deejay has a different meaning in Jamaica than in many other parts of the world. A “Deejay” in the US or Europe got to mean: someone who spins records (by others) for people to hear, while often choosing and interchanging such records. In Jamaica it got to mean: a rhythmic vocalist on an existing song. This chatting in the mic was done at mobile discotheques, called Sound Systems. The “Selector”, in turn, had at such sound systems in Jamaica the function to play and choose records, over which the Deejay as a “vocal entertainer” chatted rhythmically. This was called “Toasting” in reference to the term as in a “toast” before a drink or a dinner, a type of introductory speech.

Indeed early - what were called - Deejays of Jamaican sound systems since soon after World War II, began doing just that: introducing the records that then got spinned. From there it evolved into yells and short intersections during/on the songs themselves, short responses to what the singer sang (like “tell about it!”, “tell dem”, “lord have mercy”, or “wow”), and eventually gradually into longer, “fuller” deejays “toasting”, chatting rhythmically over a whole length of an existing song.
This was sometimes partly with chanting, alongside rhythmic chatting/toasting. This is the deeper origin of what would become later “Rap” (originally influenced by Jamaican migrants in New York) in the 1980s. It was going on at Jamaican sound systems since at least the 1950s..

In this post I choose to focus on one specific aspect of the “deejay t(h)ing”: the vocal techniques and styles of the deejays in the Jamaican sense: the toasting/chatting itself, done when the microphone was in front of their mouth. How did these vocal techniques/styles develop in relation to developments at the dancehall (i.e. to distinguish oneself in style from other deejays), in the reggae scene and industry, and to cultural or even social changes?

EARLY STAGES

What’s interesting about the deejaying is the organic development of this vocal practice, quite unique to Jamaica. It started at sound systems: for a live audience that showed appreciation (or not), in interaction with this audience. It also began as very improvisational. The Deejay (from now on I mean deejay in the Jamaican sense of the word of vocalist) in the early period did not know on forehand what song the Selector would play. He had to improvise lyrics spontaneously, “on the fly”, over this song. In the first years this was over vocal songs (during breaks for instance), but with the rise within Jamaican music of instrumentals or “versions” (later called Dubs) since the 1960s, over instrumental versions of (popular) songs. This practice also influenced the development of “freestyling” in later hip-hop.

These deejays or toasters in Jamaica were connected with specific Sound Systems, owned by specific people. They travelled throughout Kingston and Jamaica. This way they could gain popularity among audiences. In a later stage, these deejays found their way to recordings, and could record such “toasting” songs in studios, for sale on the market, apart from sound systems. “Fixed” in studios you might say.

Photo: early, pioneering toaster King Stitt performing at the Garance reggae festival in France, July 2011

Early “deejays” generally only talked or chatted over parts of songs (not over the entire length of them) in that stage, including the early toasters Count Machuki and King Stitt. These did not record their vocal interjections yet: it was improvised, and only aimed at the crowds in the dancehalls present at the time. Many doubted that serious songs could be made of this. Yet little by little such recordings were made: Ska-ing West by Sir Lord Comic, recorded in 1966, with the singer talking partly over a ska record, was probably the first “toasting/deejay” song recorded on disk.

ORIGINATOR

In a later stage, close to 1970, U-Roy really helped develop the toasting/deejaying genre. U-Roy’s important contribution was the spreading of his vocals and lyrics over an entire song, interacting with the music and vocals of original songs - local hits mostly - by other artists, resulting in time in recordings that were aimed at studio recording, rather than – as before – a sound system practice that happened to be recorded in the studio as an exception. U-Roy’s toast songs - both from the year 1970 - ‘Wake The Town’ (over the rocksteady riddim of Alton Ellis’s song ‘Girl I’ve Got A Date’) and ‘Wear You To The Ball’ (over a Paragons slow ska song of that name), pioneered the deejay as full-fledged vocalist. That’s why U-Roy is called “the Originator”.

This full-fledged toasting continued over early reggae and roots reggae songs until later years of the 1970s. Then, Rastafari-inspired lyrics came also from these deejays, contributing to what can be called “dread” sounding deejays like Prince Fari and others. I above discussed the period from the developing Jamaican music industry from about 1945 to the 1970s. From imported R&B records played in Jamaica by sound systems (with deejays introducing them) to the own, distinct music genres that developed in Jamaica since the late 1950s: ska, and in the 1960s rocksteady, and later in the 1960s reggae.

The example of the early songs by U-Roy (both rocksteady and ska) shows that genre changes did not correspond directly to differing vocal techniques in the broad sense. The deejay had to “ride the riddim” vocally adequately and engagingly to please an audience or a public. Whatever riddim or genre. First often foreign genres, later (since the 1960s) mainly Jamaican genres.

RECORDED

Vocal styles/techniques changed more directly, though, when toasters were recorded. The very “fixing” on record, and conventional musical timing of songs, limited the too free-flowing, improvisational style of earlier deejays at interactive sound systems. The word says it: recording is “fixing”: 4/4 timing had to be considered more thoroughly for example. That deejaying got recorded aimed to make records to sell – and not going to a sound system phase first – meant a change in vocal technique. The deejaying vocals had to be, simply put, “tighter” regarding musical timing. More structured as well. In the sound system, freer, improvisational deejaying was still done, of course, interacting with audience response.

Still: structured or not, or even recorded or not: one underlying skill had to be there when vocalizing over records. As self-evident as it is crucial: the deejaying/toasting vocalist had to have a good sense of rhythm, had to “feel the song”, and use his vocals right to entertain the crowd enough. That deejay should vary enough to keep attention: partly “chatting” /toasting, partly chanting or even singing, catch-phrases, voice effects, distinct yells or screams…all meant to show rhythmical and vocal entertaining skills. That is where specific talent should show.

In the Jamaican musical culture, furthermore, the sound systems played what people wanted to hear or were hoping to hear, much more than the mainstream, elite radio stations. The deejay thus had to test this skill or talent also in direct interaction with an audience: on the streets. At the very popular base of musical appreciation. The way it should be, I think.

A far cry of what would develop in Western pop cultures of the US and Europe: big corporations or slick businessmen manipulating (or at least misdirecting) musical public tastes from the top-down: think MTV, commercial pop etc. In Jamaica this order is the other way around. People on the streets liked it, therefore someone got popular and recorded in studios.

ROOTS REGGAE

Roots reggae came at a high point in the course of the 1970s after an early, faster reggae phase. The Rastafari influence increased protest lyrics, spirituality, social critique, as well as in a sense a mystique, what is called a “dreader” sound (linguistically a beautiful reggae term, I think: “dreader”). The lyrics of deejays – when Rastafari-inspired – obviously changed to Rasta social and spiritual (called “cultural”) themes – also those of early pioneers like U-Roy. Also a “wailing” or “thunderous” quality in vocal technique came more to the fore, befitting such lyrics. This was often also an adaption to the “dreader” and slower original Roots Reggae songs (more “minor-chord”) that were now often toasted on.

Prince Jazzbo was one who used a gruff, slightly wailing voice accompanying such lyrics. Although he had more or less this gruff voice with his debut singles as well, which were just about dancing and partying. Some reggae books call Prince Jazzbo for this reason an early predecessor of more recent current gruff-voiced deejays like Buju Banton, Capleton, Bounty Killer, or partly Sizzla. Jah Lloyd/Jah Lion had a less-gruff, sharper, but in another way also “dread” toasting style.

Prince Fari had a “voice of thunder” (also the name of one of his albums) befitting his Rastafari lyrics, that he used in his best songs with rhythmical skill and variety: even if he at times seemed to just talk over a riddim: there was still more to it. I Roy also toasted in such a “dread” vein, as did Big Youth: one of the early deejays in expressing Rastafari lyrics. Some deejays/artists – especially closer to the 1980s - had a somewhat intermediate position: combining a Rastafari with a general “dancehall party” vibe, like Dillinger, Ranking Dread, or Trinity, though still with Rasta references.

Both lyrically and musically/technically, the heyday of Rastafari-inspired Roots Reggae certainly had its impact on deejaying.

1980s

The 1980s consisted of a transitional period. Regarding reggae in general, and specifically in the “deejay ting”. There were broader musical changes accompanying this. The rise of digital riddims, with the Casio-based ‘Sleng Teng Riddim’going back to 1984 having a pioneering role. In this post, though, I focus on vocal techniques. A most notable practical change in the course of the 1980s among deejays consisted of the move to “on the beat” chatting.

ON THE BEAT

Early recording deejays like U-Roy, Big Youth, Dennis Alcapone, and I-Roy had to be as said somewhat “tighter” and structured in the studios when compared to the – looser - live sound system setting they started in. Nonetheless their “meandering” vocal style was still free and loose in some senses, also on record. It was rhythmic, of course – else it would not appeal - , but a bit more indirect: more AROUND the beat, rather than on it. This changed around the year 1980 in Jamaican deejaying. One influential artist/deejay influencing this change cannot go unmentioned: Lone Ranger.

Lone Ranger was a deejay of the second or third generation, you might say, who to be distinct (a necessity in the competitive Jamaican music/dancehall scene) innovated by toasting ON the beat, rather than meandering around it, like others did before. It created a nice, catchy flow that appealed to audiences. He had several hits in Jamaica, such as the catchy ‘Love Bump’ in 1981, on the music of an older Slim Smith tune (‘Rougher Yet’) at Studio One. This On The Beat toasting would signify a lasting change, continued by other 1980s toasters and by following generations of the 1990s and beyond: Admiral Bailey, Charlie Chaplin, Brigadier Jerry, Josey Wales, and Yellowman. Along with the mentioned rise of digital riddims, this would help shape the Dancehall subgenre within reggae.

Barrington Levy was one who helped “bring singing back” in the dancehall, and more singers (rather than deejay-ers/toasters) were active in reggae and popular, but many toasting/chatting deejays also rose to popularity. The term “Chatting” instead of Toasting probably relates to the new ON the beat vocal style of these next-generation deejays.

I personally have mixed feelings about this latter deejay phase. Too much slackness-lyrics (though not all) is one point of critique I have, but strictly musically I found it was in worst cases also to simple and monotonous. I overall was more into the old 1970s style of deejaying of U-Roy, Jah Lion and the likes. I enjoyed it overall more, though I did like some later 1980s deejay songs as well. Maybe it has to do what I first encountered, e.g.: my path, or with my age. I appreciate some later (1990s and later) and current chatters too, by the way, so my taste is not limited time-wise.

POST-1980s

Dancehall continued, and there came a later generation of deejays. This can be considered the third or fourth generation of deejays (who chatted rather than sung). It coincided with a “return to Rastafari messages” - though it was never totally absent within reggae – in the 1990s, and was led by Rastafari-adherent artistes/deejays, belonging mainly to the Bobo Ashanti branch within Rastafari. Sizzla, Capleton, Lutan Fyah, Anthony B, Jah Mason are artists that played crucial roles in this type of deejaying. Most of these started in the later 1980s, and some of them started out lyrically in a less-conscious vein.

Did these Bobo Ashanti/Rastafari-deejays introduce new chatting/vocal techniques and styles? Interesting question. It is hard to say, but I think they did a little, though each artist often has an own, distinct, very personal vocal style. As I said: in the competitive Jamaican dancehall one had to distinguish oneself as an artist.

On the one side: these Bobo Deejays like Sizzla and Capleton continued in a general sense the ON the beat chatting technique started in the 1980s, more than the meandering, early Toasting style characteristic of the 1970s. This latter “meandering” is not totally absent though: especially in some songs by Sizzla, as well as artists like Lutan Fyah, Junior Kelly and some others, you do find at times a looser chatting style. In addition, the deejaying of these artists includes singing (or: chanting) parts, typical of what became known as the Sing-Jay (singing and deejaying) style.

SING-JAY

The sing-jay tradition is older than these Bobo-deejays. As I said: early deejays as I-Roy, U-Roy, Dennis Alcapone, and Big Youth included chanting/singing parts to alternate the rhythmic toasting. Yet, a more structured combination - generally with the verses chatted rhythmically and the choruses sung - developed later. Singer, later turned deejay and sing-jay Michael Rose (of Black Uhuru fame) was one of the pioneers of this. Before him deejay duets like Michigan & Smiley had this structure (toasted verse, sang or chanted chorus) as well.

Current artists like Sizzla, Lutan Fyah, Jah Mason, Turbulence, Louie Culture, and several others can be mostly called Sing-jays, rather than just chatting deejays. It became so common in the course of the 1990s that reggae reviewer Mark H. Harris on his website (no longer updated, but still online at www.reggae-reviews.com) jokingly remarked about an artist between commas that “…is a new sing-jay…(but who isn’t nowadays)”. It became that common by the early 2000s in Jamaican music.

Besides this there were still singers continuing, and also new singers arrived on the scene (Luciano, Bushman, Chezidek, Richie Spice, Tarrus Riley a.o.), and on the other hand those who chatted rhythmically mainly. Yet, overall, now singing qualities could/can be judged also of deejays, besides their rhythmic flow. I find Lutan Fyah a good singer and a good chatter, for instance. Also Turbulence, Fantan Mojah, and for instance Junior Kelly are okay singers. Some find Sizzla’s singing annoying or even bad, though I find it in instances appealing. Others find the singing of, e.g., Anthony B not very special, though not bad per se. “White men” Gentleman and Alborosie have mixed results, in my opinion, and are too often mediocre in my opinion, in both their chatting and singing attempts (with a few good exceptions among their songs). Queen Ifrica, on the other hand, and newer talents like Chronixx, can I think both chat and sing very well. Also some of Marley’s sons (Damian and Kymani for instance) show talent in this regard. But all that is a matter of opinion or taste.

In any case, the balance of combining good chatting and good singing remains an interesting artistic challenge to follow within current Jamaican music. Also, the broad (grey?) terrain between singing and rhythmic deejaying enabled several artists to make a very specific mark, and hard to “classify”. Many are “sing-jay like” but not quite, more singers than deejays or vice versa.

Understandably in light of (required and desired) musical creativity: strictly rhythmical vocalizing and strictly singing could not long remain fully separate domains. Sing-jaying became another original Jamaican contribution to world-wide music, later to be copied in hip-hop, R&B, and other genres. Just like deejaying before it had influences beyond Jamaica..

INFLUENCES

The organic development sketched above was shaped of course by interrelation: action-reaction, as so much of human behaviour. Jamaica knows several highly individualistic musical artists, going a different way of their own. This often influences other people, going in a similar direction. This is also the case with vocal techniques of deejays. Most of them would admit this openly, by the way. U Brown and I Roy derived not only their artist name from U Roy, but partly copied his style. As did Dillinger, who admitted to at first simply copy older deejays like U Roy and Dennis Alcapone. I already mentioned the ON THE BEAT innovation by Lone Ranger.

The very early toasters like Count Machuki and King Stitt, as well as U Roy and others, were partly influenced by Black US radio presenters talking “jive” and speaking “Ebonics”, using specific terms to introduce records, as heard on US radio stations that reached Jamaica. Soon after Jamaican deejays would influence other, later Jamaican deejays.

GRUFF LINE

U-Roy was as said influential, but the “gruff” case is also interesting. Prince Jazzbo has recently (11th of September 2013) deceased as I write this. He was one of several deejays becoming popular in the 1970s, but like others had to find his distinctive mark, his own style. Whether sought, or just naturally there, he had a somewhat “gruff”, wailing voice, that several reggae historians see as early precursor to the style of Buju Banton and comparable later deejays.

Photo: Prince Jazzbo performing at the Garance reggae festival in France, July 2011

Earlier deejays than Buju Banton had this of course as well: Prince Fari a bit (though perhaps more “thunderous” than gruff), or Big Youth. An apprentice of U Roy (at the same Stur Gav sound system as U Roy), namely Josey Wales, rising in the early 1980s, also had a gruff voice.

A bit later in the 1980s, a deejay called Burro Banton, who is known as “the original Banton” distinguished himself with a very gruff, aggressive style. Buju Banton said he was influenced by Burro Banton, reason why he also took the name Banton. So there’s an interesting “gruff” line of vocal influence from Prince Jazzbo in the 1970s, passing through Josey Wales, Burro Banton in the 1980s, to Buju Banton or other gruff-souding artists (Mega Banton, Terror Fabulous, or Alborosie and Bounty Killer) in recent times. Burro (Banton) still took the “gruff” in his voice the furthest though.

This gruff voice is an acquired taste, even among some dancehall fans, but I think it really gives a nice energy to songs – especially “inna di dance”, and when the chatting/toasting is done well rhythmically. Buju Banton has I find a very good flow. In fact, Burro Banton and other gruff-voiced deejays were very popular at the dancehall before recording.

I-Roy was known as one of the more intelligent deejays lyrically. I-Roy was vocally influenced by U-Roy, and sounds according to many similar, but he still had a distinct vocal technique of his own, characterized by a sort of (natural) “reverb”, that sounds a bit like one is in a tunnel. I have not read yet about this having influence, although I think I Roy might have influenced several deejays at the time. Or later: current artist Busy Signal (also more or less a sing-jay) has this “reverb”. Also a bit artists like Mavado or Vybz Kartel. Of course this can also be coincidence.

While Josey Wales and also Charlie Chaplin toasted at the same sound system as U Roy (Stur Gav), they were active since the early 1980s, in a later stage, when the “on the beat” chatting had come into vogue: that’s why Josey Wales and Charlie Chaplin still sounded different (“updated”) than their older mentor U Roy, though having still similarities with him. They (Wales and Chaplin) chose “cultural”/conscious/Rasta lyrics over slackness lyrics, unlike many of their contemporaries by the 1980s. The specific vocal technique of 1980s deejays, e.g. Charlie Chaplin and General Echo, often had similarities (on the beat chatting), but their lyrics differed: General Echo focussed on slack and sexual lyrics, with song titles such as ‘Bathroom Sex’.

The same is the case, of course, with present-day deejays with similar chatting styles/techniques, yet different lyrics.

PERCUSSION

I finally focus on one less obvious aspect about deejay vocalizing or “riding the riddim”. I myself am active in percussion, especially playing bongos, for a few years now. I learned some standard Afro-Cuban/African and other patterns (son, “martillo”, conga, nyabinghi, samba a.o.), but also enjoy improvising on reggae riddims. This improvizing is rhythmical and therefore similar to freestyle toasting. I recognize that similarity. Also the vocal meandering of artists like U Roy, I Roy, and Big Youth was after all rhythmic, varied but rhythmic. On the bongos you likewise make quasi-melodic patterns on a rhythmic base, interchanging these. This is especially possible when you have several drums tuned different or of different size. A varied rhythmic (“talking drum”) improvizing, just like I Roy and the others do/did vocally. Interesting parallel!

It is however also self-evident, since toasting/deejaying is, like percussion, “riddim pon de riddim”. I even suppose that some of the deejays consciously use drum patterns in vocalizing.

The Jamaican variant of toasting/chatting is, like Wikipedia also states, relatively more melodic and varied than most of what would become US “rapping”. Therefore Jamaican toasting and chatting overall approaches even more the varied drum and percussion patterns.

CONCLUSION

According to many, there was a general downward trend in Jamaican music regarding quality, since the 1980s. The re-use of riddims took often precedence over original riddims, which many found less original. The deejay dominance was furthermore accompanied by a change in lyrical content (albeit with much exceptions). The emphasis in lyrics came on partying, but also on boasting and slackness (violence and sex). I also find that less intelligent and negative lyrics became too common, although I found some joking (not too negative) lyrics on sex or otherwise at times funny and entertaining, if they were not violent or degrading.

The re-use of riddims is strictly speaking also less original, but can be explained by economic reasons: lacking funds for studio time to create new riddims, therefore reusing old (Studio One, or other) riddims.

Still, despite these flaws, I also find that the “deejay ting” has its merit and can be considered creative and artistic. The need for vocal creativity, in chatting/timing/ rhyming and entertaining, for deejays was certainly there, also needed more to be distinct from others on the same riddim/instrumental. This led to more or less original art. Even traditional drum patterns seemed revived, like I said, masqueraded as rhythmic vocals, along with heritages of rhythmic vocals from African music historically..

Moreover, deejaying made/makes evident the positive, healthy aspect of the Jamaican music scene: deejays - as well as more via studios singers and instrumentalists - gain popularity “on the streets”, among the common people in the ghettos and elsewhere, through sound systems at dancehalls. Popularity from the bottom up. After this came recording or specific live shows (often with live bands) at international concert halls. Popularity is in this case no “big corporation” taste manipulation from the top down, but truly popular, democratic and organic. This makes it more real..