Image source: Can’t Stop Won’t Stop
Text source: The Nation

February 9, 2006

All of these books are as much about politics as popular culture and the art of the MC–not to mention his cousins the break dancer, the turntablist and the spray-can artist. This will surprise no one who knows that black art, black pop and black politics have long been intertwined modes of resistance in the African diaspora, from the coded liberation theology of plantation spirituals to the oppositional wit of Delta blues, New Orleans jazz, swing, bebop, Motown and Stax soul, free jazz, funk, black rock, salsa and reggae. Reading these books about hip-hop can provoke a sense of nostalgia and paradox for someone like this writer, who has watched and occasionally abetted the light-speed journey hip-hop has made in less than twenty years from folk culture to commercial subculture to global youth culture to global capitalist marketing tool. The nostalgia derives from a pronounced sense of loss, the kind former Black Panther Elaine Brown captured in the title of her memoir, A Taste of Power. (more…)

King Tubby

(A good source explaining the relation of Dub to the remix developed in NYC)

Source: Jahsonic

Related: music – riddims – versioning – reggae – remix – soundscape

Notable dub producers: Adrian Sherwood – Lee Perry – King Tubby

Key texts: The A to Z of Dub (1994)

Start: 1970s

The mixing desk as an instrument and the DJ/remixer as an artist John McCready

Around 1969 Kingston-based reggae producers started to issue singles with instrumental “versions” on the flipside of vocal releases, which were actually the basic riddim tracks. To these “versions” one could add further instrumentation or deejay accompaniment. Within a year the inclusion of instrumental versions on the flipside was common practice among the majority of Jamaica’s producers. In 1971 the first real dub recordings began to appear, with The Hippy Boys’ “Voo Doo” – the version to Little Roy’s “Hard Fighter”, which was mixed by Lynford Anderson a.k.a. Andy Capp – now widely acknowledged to be the first recording in the genre. But it was pioneering sound engineer and sound system operator Osbourne Ruddock who did more than any other to popularize and develop the sound. He explored the possibilities of sound from his small studio, located at the back of his home, at 18 Drumilly Avenue, Kingston 11. — Teacher & Mr. T.

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(Source: DJ Friendly)

(Source: DJ Friendly)

(Source: DJ Friendly)

(Source: DJ Friendly)