Roots Archives Forum

Sometimes i get confused by these modern therms , i mean , sometimes i listen to some artist and for me its dancehall but some people say its new roots? , its a little confused. For example , when i listen to some sizzla songs , i cant think is modern roots ( dancehall for me) , but lots of sites, people define he as a new roots artist...¿?...anyone can be most specific about this 2 ?

bless and sorry about my bad english

peace

well one could describe Sizzla as having both styles. For example his song get to the point would be considered dancehall while his track Good Ways would be considered modern roots.

I guess it might depend on what is the message behind the lyrics...What is he singing about?
Longing for his ROOTS and culture.... or perhaps rocking in the DANCEHALL?

It's difficult to say what the differenc is between (modern) Dancehall and New Roots (or Nu Roots), because (1) the meaning of these terms changes gradually over time, (2) there are no official definitions of these terms and (3) new terms/ definitions are being invented.

In my opinion modern Dancehall currently reflects the hardcore DJ style (fore example Vybz Kartel, Mavado, Ward 21 etc) and the New Roots a style influenced by old school reggae riddims and lyrics (f.e. singers like Luciano, Bushman, Jah Cure). However, New Roots is also called One Drop (see for example the Greensleeves One Drop Anthem CD's that have been released since 2005!)

Interesting, in the mid '90 New Roots was called Conscious Ragga (Note that Ragga is simply the UK name of digital dancehall). Furthermore, current dancehall / reggae artist are not fully committed to one style. Note that artists like Sizzla records New Roots tunes but also hardcore dancehall tunes. Hope this helps.....