Reggae Music's "Lyrical Gangsta" - Ini Kamoze

Hey, hey... My favorite poet of Jamaican reggae music, Ini Kamoze, my "lyrical gangsta", was born in 1957 in Port Maria, Saint Mary, Jamaica. This man is truly a reggae lyrical genius. WICKED!

Ini Kamoze's recording debut was Trouble You a Trouble Me in the early '80s. As competent a songwriter as Bob Marley with a masterful talent for social commentary, his catchy hooks and sly wittiness set him up to be the greatest reggae artist since Marley. But Mr. Kamoze marched to his own drummer, refused to be categorized by the music industry, made a few questionable career choices and reportedly did a short prison stint in the 1990s.

While he hasn't benefitted from huge popularity outside Jamaica, his signature song Here Comes the Hotstepper (1994) made Ini Kamoze a household name and became one of dancehall's most well-known hits. He later adopted the nickname "Hotstepper", from Jamaican Patois meaning a man on the run from the law. This song remains his only U.S. #1 hit.

With his trademark "hey, hey..." Ini Kamoze will always be one of my all-time favorite reggae artists. He is a powerhouse of talent for fresh and significant conscious lyrics, influenced greatly by R&B, rap and hip-hop. He speaks directly to my soul - like an electrical current - and is never boring.

Mr. Kamoze does not condone random acts of violence but is an advocate for constructive change. Twenty years ago, in Gunshot (Respect Not) he chastised Jamaica's corrupt leaders and politicians for condoning gun violence, thus forcing poor kids to kill each other senselessly. Sadly, his message is still quite relevant today as Jamaica suffers from far too many pointless gun-related deaths.

Ini Kamoze's songs are arrogant, cocky and defiant yet, at the same time, eloquent and graceful with a keen sense of wit. His unmatched lyrical mastery helps him produce some of the most interesting lyrics in all of reggae music. And he can write some darn fine lovers' lyrics as well. He has collaborated with the greats, like Sly Dunbar & Robbie Shakespeare, and I am certain he has some potent reggae left in him!

If Ini Kamoze's music interests you, try to find his debut album from 1984, Ini Kamoze, which is (criminally) still available only in vinyl, or pick up Debut, his double CD compilation album which features re-recordings of his early hits, and listen im tic!. Although the songs suffer just a little bit due to the lack of the Sly & Robbie productions, the poetic lyrics remain the same. Your soul will thank you.

Visit Ini Kamoze's MySpace site for great information, music, and insight into this cryptic but charismatic personality: http://www.myspace.com/inikamoze  and for news about his upcoming CD release "51/50 Rule". While his career has certainly been erratic, Mr. Kamoze has thankfully not disappeared from the music scene.  I hold my breath in anticipation!

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The Origins of Reggae Music

Caribbean music has entertained many music fans and has a great influence on the rest of the world. Music from the Caribbean islands such as Calypso, ska, rock steady and dancehall have evolved from each other and fused into what we know as reggae music. This music genre has also been influenced by elements of African rhythms and American blues. Strong bass lines and the bass drum beating characterize this music genre.

Reggae music originated from the island nation of Jamaica. This country is home to many homegrown musicians and record producers who have developed the distinctive style. Lee 'Scratch' Perry is the most famous Jamaican producer. He is responsible for launching the careers of many reggae musicians.

Artists such as Burning Spear and Horace Andy spread reggae music beyond the islands. However, none of them can match Bob Marley in terms of popularizing this music to the rest of world. No Woman, No Cry, Buffalo Soldier and Redemption Song are just some of Marley's hits. When he passed away, he enjoyed legendary status and was given a state funeral in Jamaica.

In addition to Bob Marley, Johnny Nash, Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker, and other crossover singers also had success in the British pop charts. The Police, UB40, Selector, The Clash and The Specials fused reggae music with rock. In fact, one of the first multi racial groups in the UK was the British band UB40.

Social issues, such as poverty and political freedom are addressed in the lyrics of many reggae songs. These songs are the anthems of the poor who grow up in shanty towns and are still struggling to make ends meet. Some of the songs are about the beliefs of the Rastafarian religion, of which Marley was a practitioner. There are explorations of spirituality, invoking God, or Jah as he is called in some of the songs. However, some reggae songs are controversial because they defend the use of cannabis which Rastafarians advocate.

Reggae Music in all of its forms, have influenced and led on to other forms of music, namely drum and bass and hip hop. So far, nobody has taken over from Marley's mantle and rap and R & B dominate the charts at the moment. Music experts say that Reggae music needs another charismatic figure to spread the word.

This unique kind of music has achieved a lot considering that it came out of a small island with early recordings produced on basic equipment. People responded to the melodic simplicity of the music and the heartfelt lyrics. There was always a high standard of musicianship and a direct connection between the artists and the fans in reggae music. Since nobody can keep a good thing down, this Caribbean music will surely rise again.

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Reggae Riddims - The Foundation of Reggae Music

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What is a reggae "riddim?"

"Riddim" is the Jamaican Patois term for the instrumental "rhythm" track of a song, also known as the "groove" or the "beat". Jamaican popular songs, and many other types of Caribbean music, are built on riddims.

Riddims usually consist of a prominent bass line and a particular unique drum pattern and are truly the backbone of dub, reggae, lovers' rock, ragga, roots, dancehall, etc. Many riddims originate from a hit song and the riddim carries the name of the song, for example I-Wayne's 2004 hit "Lava Ground" on the Lava Ground Riddim. Or, in some cases, the riddim takes the name of the most popular song recorded on it. For example, the Satta Massagana Riddim is named after The Abyssinians' original song "Satta Massagana".

Occasionally, an artiste will voice two completely different songs on the identical riddim. And it's very common for different artistes to voice over the same riddims with different lyrics and different vocal styles, ranging from singing to toasting. For example, Jah Cure's "Call On Me", Gyptian's "Butterfly", and Tanya Stephens' "Reminiscing" are all on 2009's wonderful Good Love Riddim. The success of a riddim is judged by how many artistes "juggle" it, or make their own vocal interpretations of it. Jamaican audiences will judge whether or not the tune is big and, if so, other artistes will write new lyrics to "ride the riddim".

There can be more than a dozen popular current riddims, but there are usually only a few "hot" riddims at any given time. Artistes have to record over these hot riddims if they want a better shot at getting their songs played in the dancehalls or on the radio. Many times a dance is even created in honor of the riddim, like Pepperseed, or Gully Creeper, or who can forget the world's fastest man Usain Bolt's victory dance, "Nah Linga"?!!

The riddims don't always originate from reggae; some urban contemporary songs may become riddims as well. The instrumental of Ne-Yo's "Miss Independent" has become a popular riddim; many dancehall artists have recorded songs using the track. Other songs have inspired riddims too, such as George Michael's song "Faith," which became a riddim of the same name, and R. Kelly's "Snake," which became the Baghdad Riddim.

Types of riddims

Riddims are African in origin and are generally one of three types. The oldest, the "classical" riddim, provides the instrumentals for dub, roots reggae and lovers' rock (well known producers include Sly & Robbie). The "ragga" riddim backs (or used to back) raggamuffin and dancehall songs. And "digital" riddims (e.g., King Jammy's Sleng Teng Riddim) are created with computers, synthesizers and drum machines; in other words, they are really electronic riddims.

The advent of technology changed the entire business. No longer do you need to pay for studio time and hire musicians! This opened up the business to a whole new generation of producers, musicians and performers. Today, most riddims backing dancehall and Soca are digital. Digital riddims, along with the global reach and popularity of dancehall, have also spawned the creation of more and more popular riddims outside Jamaica.

Versioning

"Versioning" is the term for recycling or rejuvenating old riddims using computers and samplers, and voicing over them with new artistes. Jamaica has been versioning since the 1960s. Some of these riddims are decades old, many of them coming out of Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's renowned Kingston studio, Studio One. Some great riddims came out of Studio One in the '60s and '70s, and you will still hear them versioned in constant rotation by sound systems today.

Versioning can be controversial, however, because many of those who produced the original classic riddims never got paid for the riddims themselves. It would be nice to get some "royalties"!! But today's artists argue that they're inspired by these classics and paying respect by versioning and re-popularizing them. Many Jamaican producers rely heavily on versions although, in the past decade, we saw less of this practice with hundreds of creative new riddims being released.

The explosion of dancehall in recent years generated many great new riddims. But some are already being versioned as well. The Unfinished Business Riddim, popular in 2008, was a version of 1998's hit Showtime Riddim. So it seems old riddims never die!

Producers

Of course, creating a new and original riddim is far more difficult than versioning an old one! Here are some of the best original riddim producers from the past & present: Black Chiney (sound system, DJ, producer), Bobby "Digital B" Dixon (producer), Clement "Coxsone" Dodd (producer, Studio One records), Donovan Germain (producer, Penthouse Studio), Joe Gibbs (producer), King Jammy (dub mixer, producer), King Tubby (dub mixer, producer 1960s-1980s), Duke Reid (producer, Treasure Isle records, dominated the 1960s), Sly and Robbie (producers, Taxi Records), Steely & Clevie (producers).

Two of the hottest young producers of the new millennium share a surname but are not related. Stephen "Di Genius" McGregor, son of veteran singer Freddie McGregor, can boast of one of my favorite dancehall riddims of recent years, the Tremor Riddim (2007), voiced by Mavado ("Amazing Grace"), Sean Paul ("Watch Them Roll"), and others. This talented musician's riddims are so popular that more than a dozen people might voice over each of them.

The other young star producer is Kemar "Flava" McGregor, who is responsible for some of the hottest hits in recent years and, in my opinion, the very best roots reggae riddims to come out of Jamaica (or the world, for that matter) in years, for example: 2005's Triumphant Riddim (Gyptian's "Mama Don't Cry"), 2007's 83 Riddim (Richie Spice's "Ah No Me Dat" & Queen Ifrica's "Daddy"), and 2010's Classic Riddim (Pressure's "Thinking About You", Duane Stephenson & Ras Shiloh's "Soon As We Rise"), and Sweet Riddim (Etana's "Happy Heart", Beres Hammond's "See You Again", Ginjah's "Prayer"). I love the wide mix of artistes voicing his riddims - veterans and novices alike - definitely something to appeal to everyone. These two producers are out in front of Jamaica's current hitmakers!

For me, it's the smooth reggae beats that get me grooving and swaying; for others it's the hard bass lines they enjoy on the dancehall floor. No matter your preference, riddims are reggae music's foundation! Enjoy!

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