 Multiple Grammy award winning performer, Ziggy Marley has turned his attention to production with the release of Dancehall Originators, a project on which his wears the Executive Producer hat.
The album includes tracks by Chaka Demus, Yellow Man and Buju Banton and many other reggae music stalwarts. The project is the first in a new series of dancehall reggae albums designed to pay homage to the groundbreaking original artistes that paved the way for dancehall artistes today.
In 1992, producer/songwriter Phillip Smart, founder of Long Island’s HC&F Studios, created the scorching Hot This Year ‘riddim’, whose bouncy keyboard riffs and resounding bass were considered groundbreaking at the time. From its initial release, Hot This Year inspired numerous other artistes, including Shaggy, Yellow Man, Buju Banton, and Chaka Demus, to use it as a basis for their own songs. It also inspired the durable and popular song Hot This Year by the late DJ Dirtsman, which crossed over into other radio formats.
“There weren’t that many reggae records that crossed over to R&B radio at the time, and Dirtsman’s song went from reggae radio shows to getting airplay in regular rotation on New York stations,” recalls Phillip Smart. “So that put it in a different format and the song became a favourite in clubs that didn’t play a lot of reggae.”
Because it so deftly illustrates such an important era of dancehall reggae history, Dancehall Originators is a must-have for any knowledgeable dancehall devotee, as well as more recent reggae converts. The Tuff Gong label was founded in 1965 by Bob Marley, with the vision of producing, distributing and promoting his music free from the constraints of corporate label politics. In a time decades before artist-owned record labels were commonplace, the legendary Bob Marley’s vision was characteristically well ahead of its time. Now, nearly a half-century later, his dream is being realized.
Track list:
1. HOT THIS YEAR BY DIRTSMANBIG
2. BAD & BOLD BY CHAKA DEMUS
3. TAKE IT EASY BY PETER METRO FEATURING TANTO METROSO
4. SWEET BY PINCHERSLOOK WORK BY JOSEY WALES
5. ROUGHER THAN DEM BY CHARLIE CHAPLIN
6. KING FE DANCEHALL BY YELLOW MAN
7. STOP IT BY COCO TEA
8. DANCEHALL VIBES BY GENERAL TREES
9. MR. BAD MIND BY BUJU BANTON
10. THE ORIGINATOR BY U-ROY & GEORGE NOOKS
11. TAKING YOU BACK MEGA MIX - MIXED BY DJ ROY OF ROAD INTERNATIONAL
Source: Headline Entertainment
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