Dub is an electronic musical style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is commonly considered a subgenre of reggae, though it has developed to extend beyond that style. Generally, dub consists of remixes of existing recordings created by significantly manipulating the original, usually through the removal of vocal parts, emphasis of the rhythm section, the application of studio effects such as echo and reverb, and the occasional dubbing of vocal or instrumental snippets from the original version or other works.
Linton Kwesi Johnson OD, also known as LKJ, is a Jamaica-born, British-based dub poet and activist. In 2002, he became the second living poet, and the only black one, to be published in the Penguin Modern Classics series. His performance poetry involves the recitation of his own verse in Jamaican patois over dub-reggae, usually written in collaboration with reggae producer/artist Dennis Bovell.
Dub poetry is a form of performance poetry of Jamaican origin, which evolved out of dub music in Kingston, Jamaica, in the 1970s, as well as in London, England, and Toronto, Canada, cities which have large populations of Caribbean immigrants. The term "Dub Poetry" was coined by Dub artist Linton Kwesi Johnson in 1976, and further popularized by artist Oku Onoura, which consists of spoken word over reggae rhythms, originally found on the backing or "version" side of a 12 or 7 inch vinyl record.
People from the Caribbean have made significant contributions to British Black music for many generations.
Bass Culture is an album by the Jamaica-born, British-based dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, released in 1980 on the Island Records label. It was produced by Linton Kwesi Johnson and Dennis Bovell. Bovell, Lloyd "Jah Bunny" Donaldson and Webster Johnson were members of Matumbi.
Forces of Victory is the debut solo album by Jamaican dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson. It was released in 1979 on Island Records.
LKJ in Dub is an album by the Jamaica-born, British-based dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, released in 1980 on Island Records. It was produced by Dennis Bovell. It contains dub versions of tracks from the two previous LKJ albums, Forces of Victory and Bass Culture.
Making History is an album by the Jamaica-born, British-based dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson. It was released in 1984 on Island Records. It was produced by Dennis Bovell.
Roy Samuel Reid, better known as I-Roy, was a Jamaican deejay who had a very prolific career during the 1970s.
Stephen Gregory is an English jazz saxophonist and composer. He plays tenor, alto, soprano and baritone saxophone as well as the flute.
Dread Beat an' Blood is the debut album by British reggae band Poet and the Roots released in 1978 on the Front Line label. It was produced by Vivian Weathers and Linton Kwesi Johnson. The "Poet" is dub poet Johnson and "the Roots" are Dennis Bovell, Lloyd "Jah Bunny" Donaldson, Desmond Craig, Winston Curniffe, Everald Forrest, Floyd Lawson, John Varnom, Lila Weathers and Vivian Weathers. Vivian Weathers and Winston Curniffe were school friends of Johnson's. They all attended Tulse Hill Secondary School. Most of the tracks are based on poems that first appeared in Johnson's 1975 book of poetry Dread Beat an' Blood.
Daniele Gaudi, better known as Gaudi, is an Anglo-Italian musician, solo artist and record producer based in London, who specialises in dub music, electronica, reggae and worldbeat. His distinctive production sound appears in a number of albums nominated for Awards and prizes such as Grammy Award 2019 -Best Reggae Album Of The Year- for Mass Manipulation by Steel Pulse and BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music 2008 for the album Dub Qawwali by Gaudi & Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. His music work and contributions have topped international charts such as: Billboard Reggae Chart no.1 with the album Heavy Rain by Lee "Scratch" Perry, Billboard Reggae Chart no.1 with the album Mass Manipulation by Steel Pulse, Billboard Reggae Chart no.1 with the album Vessel of Love by Hollie Cook, Billboard Reggae Chart no.2 with "Rainford" by Lee "Scratch" Perry, UK Dance Chart no.1 with the album "Prism" by The Orb, no.1 with "Jus' Come " by Cool Jack, no.1 in the UK iTunes chart with "Blue Monday" by Dub Pistols, Gaudi, Dubmatix.
Lovers rock is a style of reggae music noted for its romantic sound and content. While love songs had been an important part of reggae since the late 1960s, the style was given a greater focus and a name in London in the mid-1970s.
Matumbi were one of the top British reggae bands of the 1970s and early 1980s, and are best known as the first successful band of guitarist and record producer Dennis Bovell. The group wrote and performed the opening theme song to Empire Road, a British television series made by the BBC in 1978 and running until 1979. The popularity of the song led to it being released as a single in 1978.
John Ogetti Kpiaye is a reggae session and live guitarist. He was a member of The Cats who had a No. 48 UK hit with "Swan Lake", and Matumbi, who had a No. 35 hit with "Point of View ".
"Silly Games" is a song written by Dennis Bovell that was first released in 1979 as a single by Janet Kay. The single was a hit not only in the UK, where it reached number 2 that summer, but throughout Europe. Kay's appearance singing on Top of the Pops made it the first lover's rock tune on BBC Television's flagship popular music show. The song appeared again in 1990 as a re-recording, billed as by Lindy Layton featuring Janet Kay, which reached number 22 in the charts. A remix version of Kay's original recording spent three weeks in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 62.
Brain Damage is the third studio album by Barbadian-British reggae musician Dennis Bovell, released in 1981 by Fontana Records. His first solo album under his own name, following two dub albums released as Blackbeard, it was Bovell's first recording at his South London-based Studio 80. Having begun to feel that reggae had not progressed as much as he would have liked, he conceived Brain Damage as an attempt to fuse the genre with numerous rhythmic styles from Europe, America, Africa and the Caribbean to highlight the genre's flexibility. The musician intended not to explore the international rhythms in a standard way but to take them to what he perceived as musical extremes. The direction was also inspired by the wide array of people in his audience.
Tings an' Times is an album by the Jamaican dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, released in 1991. It was Johnson's first album in six years. Tings an' Times also served as the title of a book of Johnson's poetry.
More Time is an album by the Jamaican-British musician Linton Kwesi Johnson. It was released in 1998 through Johnson's LKJ Records. "Liesense fi Kill", about police brutality, was released as a single. Johnson supported the album with an international tour. The lyrics to many songs were reproduced in Johnson's book of poetry Mi Revalueshanary Fren.
