Roots Archives Forum

Greetings



I just found out about this website http://www.rootsrastas.com . They show worldwide Reggae Videos (Japan, Latin America, Jamaica, Africa) plus full documentaries and live concerts. And I m really surprised because they only do Roots Reggae, no dancehall.

I m actually happy that they promote consciousness. I find no appeal in Dancehall music, I find some artists such as Elephant Man or Vibes Cartel "empty", not as Uplifting as a good Bob Marley or Anthony B.

Also one day i read in a magazine that Bob Marley said that Reggae will take its true form in Africa. What do u think of that? As an African myself (from Gabon), I listen to loads of African reggae, such as Lucky Dube from South Africa and Alpha Blondy and I do think that Reggae found a really fertile ground in Africa. In every major African countries, you ll hear some major Reggae artists. What do u think of all that?



Peace.

Bdo

It would only seem natural for Reggae to find its true home in Africa.

And maybe it will happen as it seems that JA reggae is in danger of selling out completely to the horrible Hip=Hop culture of materialism, bling and slackness.

Very cool link!

The Name Elephant Man associated with reggae/dancehall is a disgrace, don't care so much for the current reggae scene and it's not because of lack of effort, there some artist who have good quality records which i commend, however i'm still not feeling the new vibes.

BTW thanks for the Link

Corporate Globaliztion is a cliche term theese days but how fitting for present day hip hop .Africa,China USA,JA..no matter the company uniform for youth is well in place eveywhere.

I dont know much about African reggae except the big names.I did see Lucky Dube a few years back and he was cut off early in his set due to noise bylaws.He then preformed 2 acoustic song that was very nice.

Can anyone recommend more African reggae?

A vet that i used to listen to as a child was Alpha Blondy

He and Lucky Dube ruled those times

http://www.roots-archives.com/artist/2

Hmmm there's something interesting about african music anyhow. When listening to music from Ethiopia for example I often get the impression it has the same sound (after beat rhythms). It has an history of input coming from army bands (brass) similar to jamaican music (alpha boys school). The music from Guinee has reggae-like rhythms (but than more complex). African music obviously planted a seed in Jamaica and after a while it come back. Same happened with cuban son in the fifties. It came back to the Congo/Zaire and was being played/copied by Franco.

Yes reggae is played by Alpha Blondy and Lucky Dube, but this is only the wave that came back. Reggae is heavily rooted in African music.

Start exploring african music with e.g. Orchestra Baobab:
http://www.orchestrabaobab.co.uk/
I love the pirate's choice album... sure you will like it. African music opened a world of new sounds to me I can really appreciate.

Hi Collu

Check out Rocky Darwuni(from Ghana)through Bdo's link.

peace+love
L.C

Chequen Gondwana de Chile, producido por Dr Dread. Muy bueno.
Check out Gondwana from Chile, produced by Dr. Dread. Very good!!

Talking about french speaking reggae artists, the main center is really Abidjan, in Ivory Coast. There are loads of artists from there, who sing mainly in french, dioula or baoulé. There are of course the two big ones, Alpha Blondy and Tiken Jah Fakoly, but many others : Serge Kassy, Tangara Speed Ghoda, Ismael Isaac, Kush...
There's also a guy from Burkina Faso, Madou Djembé, who has some very solid tunes, with horns, and not only cheap synths, which is, imho, a big problem with african reggae.
There are many good artists in Ghana and Nigeria, the first being Majek Fashek.
In Ethiopia, even if many of them are based in the US now, the big names are Zeleke Gessesse (who sings a version of "Heathen" in english and amharic) and Cha Chi.