Roots Archives Forum

I saw in decumentary, taht when the cocaine entered in Jamaica the some reggae artist start to consume it .. som epeople says that Bob Marley was in that to :\

babilon babilon fame - fame = money = cocaine, girls, alcohol, party's
sometime the influence of babilon is more heavy than your believes
first time you say lets go and try, second time you say i think wasnt enouff to have a real idea, third time you are hooked into this sh***t
bob marley used to drink too but when he discorver his mission he stop also he used to eat pork ... life is plenty of contradictions.

Drug abuse is especially prevelant in the Music Business and in Ghetto,and other economically disadvataged areas,as well as the suburbs. Unfortunately help isn't as prevelant in the Third World as it is elsewhere. Those of us in America and Europe must remember that life is very different in Jamaica and that the One-Love, ganga Eden image that many of us take away from Roots music is often drastically at odds with the harsh realities of daily life in Jamaica. Also just because an artist is successful in Reggae doesn't mean they are far removed from those realities. Many artists who are common names to us never had much money. It just isn't there in Reggae or at least it wasn't.
So yes sadly many artists did and do suffer form addiction and/ot violent death. IMHO we should be very careful about how we discuss it and avoid trivializing it or dealing with it in a tabloid manner. When these topics come up that this is often a result. It becomes a case of comparing obituaries. So and so was a crackhead. So was X. I heard Y got shot in a drug deal. And these artists (with human weakeness) and all their contributions wind up being reduced to forum equivalnts of roadside accidents.

As far as tunes on drugs goes-Gregory Isaacs had a great tune called "Hard Drugs". And sadly he was in a better postion to speak on it than Prince Far-I.

I don't mean to offend anyone here, but I feel strongly about this. It doesn't just apply to Reggae either.

There is no glamour in addiction and violence.

Ites,
Papa D

True words Papa D.

Lion

And how about Perry, He used to drink industrial alcohol (recording equipment cleaner) combined with gasoline and coke.

who cares, nobody's perfect

RE: Alcohoilsm/addiction =RAS MICHAEL Said, "think of it as an ALLERGY"
More like, consider it a DISEASE!!!
It's for real. WELL cHARGE put it nicely, "NOBODY is perfect". I totally agree- We are only human. I Give thanks that these artists were able to create the output they did under thier circumstances. Its hard enough work as it is, without a disease. aDAm

lee perry did what???

I had a spell once where I moved in deep inside musical circles (I am a journalist - usually with motorcycles but a musician befriended me as he liked bikes lots and took me into his world).

Inside this world I realised that hard drugs were a way of life. Snorting coke was to these people like drinking tea is to 'ordinary' folk.

Pressure is on people in all sorts of ways, metal pressure, work pressure, and even artistic pressure too. So it is VERY easy to understand how people get totally tied up in the wrong things and lose their way as a result.

I can't judge these people because of what they do and I won't. Human nature is frail, mine also/

But all the same, I would like to warn others (especially my kids) that it is not hip, not hard, not cool and not even good for your life, or even your artistic abilities, to be totally ripped on ANY drug all the time - to the point that it controls you and not you it.

I later watched my musician friend almost die in front of my eyes as an result (I think) of his drug induced mental state - not an overdose but a bad road accident!

It was a very long time after that horrific incident before I touched ANY drug - not even so much as a beer...

Like his near death, the deaths of these individuals serve us all warnings to be careful what we do, what we take and who we take it with.

Sorry, but I think Prince Far I was right and I think he was just as qualified to preach that message as Gregory. You don't need to go to hell to know that hell isn't going to be good for you.

Aids? Dennis Brown did not die from aids, if his death certificate is correct and i'm sure it is, he died of pneumonia. there is no mention of aids or hiv... i cud be wrong but i just cant accept that he had either, he died too suddenly for a start and he had only 1 lung, try looking at this link...
http://www.geocities.com/studiowon/DennisBrown.htm