Rockers! The Roots of Reggae and Rap Vocalists

Here's a guest blog entry from DJ Chill Will. He produces the Dub Session podcast, which is my favorite podcast of all time.

This year marks the 30th year anniversary of the release of the movie "Rockers!" in 1977. At the time the movie was released, the Rockers were a group of musicians, DJs, producers and Toasters in Jamaica who were expanding the boundaries of music production and innovation. Often, a hit song would be released on an "A" side like Dennis Brown's "Revolution" or Jacob Miller's "Pamela", or the infamous "Under Mi Sleng Ting" ryddym. Typically, records were released as singles, and on the A side was a vocal version of a popular song, and on the B side was a "dub" version. These popular songs were played in the Jamaican clubs, or dancehalls, and then the B sides were played. These B sides, or dub versions, became templates for reggae-rappers known in Jamaica as "DJs" or "Toasters" to show off their craft. This was the time for Toasters and DJs to shine and show off their stuff. These DJs included greats such as Big Youth, I-Roy, U-Roy, U-Brown, Dillinger, and Al Capone.

The "Rockers" movement in Jamaicafrom 1972 to 1979 provided the genesis of modern hip hop music production and toasting/rapping, from Kingstown to Brooklyn, Brixton and beyond. In the same way that King Tubby and The Scientist became famous for re-producing hit songs into dub classics like "King Tubby Meets The Rockers Uptown", their counterparts Africa Bambaataa and Grand Master Flash in the later 1970s were mixing up the birth of hip hop with their production wizardry and dubplates for rap artists.

Jamaican star DJs and Toasters inspired the birth of the rap movement in Brooklyn in the late 1970s where disco B sides were played, and rappers from different "crews" would battle for style points and popularity just like their Jamaican cousins did at the Dance Halls in Kingston and Negril.

Like the DJs and Toasters in Jamaica, disco battle rappers in Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan discos would play B sides of modern hits and provide their own Rythmic American Poetry - otherwise known as RAP. Rap music's origin echoed the DJ/Rockers movement from 1973 to 1978 in Jamaica. raps in the U.S. were the equivalent of "DJ Showdowns" in Jamaica. Who is the baddest DJ? Turned into "who is the illest rapper or MC" in the U.S.. The King Tubbys and Lee Scratch Perrys of Jamaica were mimicked by Africaa Bambaataa and Sugar Hill Records, and the DJ/Toasters of Jamaica shined as MCs and Rappers in the U.S., starting with Kool Keith, Kurtis Blow, and other disco-era MCs turned rappers.

From 1978-1980, the B Sides that made DJs famous in Jamaica became mix-tapes on the streets of Brooklyn, Queens and around NYC, and each neighborhood had its own "crew" where rappers would rap over mix-tapes. Soon, these mix tapes were played on the radio, and breakthrough artists like Doug E. Fresh and LL Cool J were making their way to the radio in 1981 and 1982 with the help of mastermind producers such as Rick Rubin - who coincidentally just won producer of the year at this year's Grammy awards.

The movie "Rockers" is a time capsule which will transport you back to a movement of creative expressionism in Jamaica that gave birth to the rap movement in the U.S., thanks to the cousins of West Indians and Jamaicans in New York advancing the DJ art form into Rythymic American Poetry that dominates the recording industry of the U.S. today. "Rockers" is highly recommended as a piece of musical history, helping to plant the seeds for future culture media movements captured in movies like "Krush Groove" and "Breakin'" in the early 1980s.

To hear some of the original music from the movie, click here

Big ups to the author of this blog for using blogs and podcasting for music and culture appreciation!

21 comments:

Reel Fanatic said...

I'm embarassed to say I had never heard of this movie, but it sounds like one I would love .. If I can find it on DVD, I'm gonna have to watch it .. thanks for the head's up

Anonymous said...

Likewise, I'm sure. This is the kind of history lesson that virtually EVERY so-called rap star of today's generation must have in order to even be considered a rap star in my humble opinion. It really pisses me off that the proverbial "old school" gets overlooked; I realise that this is a new day and all, but let's be realistic here. After listening to some of today's artists, I can go on record as saying that the decline of western civilastion is nipping at our heels. I watched a performance by Clipse on MTV the other day. The DJ didn't even have any decks set up. How bogus is that... I'm about to check out your audio selection, and thanks for being out there.

Peace and Blessings.

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