Text by Harry Hawks

Throughout his fruitful and varied career Cedric 'I'm' Brooks conducted a continuous lifelong musical investigation that defied categorisation and that consistently challenged and broke down cultural and social preconceptions...

Date Added: Jul 05, 2017

Text by Harry Hawks

Compared to a number of his contemporaries Delroy Wilson never seemed to be really respected or recognised outside of the traditional reggae audience. But he is one of the greatest singers and songwriters to ever come out of Jamaica... a country justifiably famed for its singers and songwriters.

Date Added: Jun 14, 2017

Text by Harry Hawks

The world's top selling Jamaican artist Shaggy has achieved more UK & USA Number One hits than any other reggae act...

Date Added: Jun 07, 2017

Text by Harry Hawks

Bob Andy is one of the finest singers and songwriters ever and his work, both lyrically and rhythmically, forms an integral part of reggae's musical vocabulary.

Date Added: May 24, 2017

Text by Harry Hawks

Legendary bass guitarist, musical arranger and record producer who has played on thousands, literally, of Jamaican hits as one of The Hippy Boys, The Aggrovators & The Upsetters and has also produced hit records for his own Defenders, FAM'S and Cobra labels. Family Man is renowned worldwide for his integral role in shaping the musical direction of Bob Marley & The Wailers throughout their incredible international career.

Date Added: Nov 30, 2016

Text by Harry Hawks

The beautiful rock steady music created by Lynn Taitt & The Jets between 1966 and 1968 provided the basis for all that was to follow...

Date Added: Nov 22, 2016

Text by Harry Hawks

Slim Smith will forever remain the genuine Jamaican music aficionado's favourite singer; two of his original compositions, '(I'll) Never Let Go' (aka 'The Answer') and 'My Conversation', are among the most versioned ever in the history of reggae...

Date Added: May 24, 2016

Text by Harry Hawks

"My songs are based on farming and not about hype... I'm a Bobo and people know what I stand for." Jah Mason

Date Updated: May 17, 2016

Text by Harry Hawks

A UK based group who would never, and could never, be restricted by any boundaries... national, international or musical.

Date Updated: May 17, 2016

Text by Harry Hawks

The devotional Rastafarian hymns of praise of Ras Michael & The Sons Of Negus came to prominence in the mid-seventies although their Nyahbinghi based drumming and chanting had exerted a powerful influence on Jamaican music during the previous decade...

Date Updated: May 17, 2016

Text by Harry Hawks

A singularly successful singer, producer and record shop proprietor who, over the past fifty years, really has seen it all... been there, done that and his music has gone all the way round the world and back again.

Date Updated: Apr 15, 2016

Text by Harry Hawks

Reggae, and dancehall reggae in particular, is infamous for its machismo stance and sexist outlook and to describe the opportunities for female artists as 'limited' in the male dominated world of Jamaican music is a massive understatement. A select few have managed to break through the glass ceiling but Macka Diamond has appears to have smashed it...

Date Updated: Oct 30, 2015

Text by Harry Hawks

A founding father of Jamaican music in the late fifties whose career went from strength to strength over a period of sixty years and who eventually reached a significantly wider audience than many of his original contemporaries...

Date Updated: Oct 13, 2015

Text by Harry Hawks

The first UK based deejays to break into the National Charts Eastwood & Saint translated the language of Jamaican deejays into an international style that everyone could understand and anyone could join in with...

Date Updated: Jun 22, 2015

Text by Harry Hawks

Uzziah 'Cool Stick'/'Sticky' Thompson has appeared on more records than any other Jamaican artist. He was not only a world class percussionist but also an innovative foundation deejay yet the name of Sticky Thompson will still probably be unfamiliar to anyone apart from reggae music obsessives...

Date Updated: Jun 03, 2015

Text by Harry Hawks

From 'Ten Year Old Deejay Wonder' to 'King Of The Dance Hall'...

Date Updated: Dec 02, 2014

Text by Harry Hawks

John Holt is rightly revered as Jamaica's "finest interpreter of love ballads" but he could just as easily be regarded as one of its finest rock steady singers with The Paragons, one of its foundation vocalists at Studio One, or one of its best ever roots singers through his releases for Channel One in the seventies and Henry 'Junjo' Lawes in the eighties...

Date Updated: Oct 21, 2014

Text by Harry Hawks

One of the most memorable of the many marvellous vocal groups who came to prominence in the mid sixties with the advent of rock steady...

Date Updated: Aug 08, 2014

Text by Harry Hawks

The competition does not get much tougher than in the world of Jamaican dancehall music but, occasionally, an artist comes through who stands head and shoulders above the competition. "The people want the real stuff... and that's where I fall in. " Vybz Kartel

Date Updated: Jul 29, 2014

Text by Dub Store Sound Inc,

Nick Manasseh is one of the pioneers of UK Dub/Reggae scene who popularised a now-familiar phrase "UK Steppers."

Date Updated: Jul 03, 2014