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France said to be biggest reggae country outside of Jamaica
By Basil Walters Sunday Observer staff reporter waltersb@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Jamaican engineer and producer Sam Clayton Jr has been living in France long enough to know a lot of what's happening there, especially in the music industry. So when Clayton Jr, during a recent visit to Jamaica, told us that France is reggae music's biggest market outside of Jamaica, he spoke with the authority of someone in the know.
"I know France is the biggest reggae country outside of Jamaica. Yes, it's a bigger market than the US, it's a bigger market than England," asserted Clayton Jr, whose father is well-known Rastafari elder, Brother Sam Clayton, leader of the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari.
Members of the Natty Dread Band from the Reunion Islands along with producer Steven Stewart standing left, Sly Dunbar second left and Robbie Lyn fourth from right, at the Harry J Recording Studio recently. Stooping in front left is Sam Clayton Jr, producer/engineer and interpreter.
Clayton Jr, who was here with the band Natty Dread working on an album at the Harry J Recording Studio, based his conclusion on the number of bookings being made for reggae artistes in France, the frequency of the music on French radio, and the growing popularity of the Jamaican practice of sound system clashes, though he did not give any numbers.
"I think France is where England was 20, 30 years ago," he said. "In terms of discovering reggae music, learning about it, that's where France is today."
He said that at least once per year he would work with a band in France that wants to come to Jamaica. "It's a big dream for a lot of bands who want to come here and work," he told the Sunday Observer. "Usually, most of the bands are reggae bands. And they come for the sound, they come for the experience, they all come to learn, everybody comes also to get some of our musicians working on their project. And it's a big learning process for them to come here and work."
Clayton Jr, who speaks French as fluently as he speaks English, said without any doubt reggae and hip hop are the music most played on the radio in France.
The French, he said, have not only embraced reggae music but also the culture and the trends that go along with it.
"They have embraced all forms of reggae music, from ska to dancehall," he said. "And one of the big novelties today in France is to have sound clashes between sound systems. There are a lot of sound systems in France - well, a lot of sound systems all over Europe - but in France, every day a new sound system is arriving on the scene."
Influenced by Bob Marley and Rastafari, the band Natty Dread is the first reggae outfit from Reunion Island, an overseas department of France located east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.
According to Clayton Jr, Reunion Island, which is smaller than Jamaica, has "a significant Rastafarian population" .
The band, he said, has been in existence for 15 years. "They were the first reggae band in the Indian Ocean region," he told the Sunday Observer. "They started listening to reggae first by listening to, of course, Bob Marley, then to the two records of the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari. They have embraced all forms of reggae music. Of course, everywhere you go in the Indian Ocean region there is reggae; reggae is very popular there."
He pointed out also that there are a lot of bands in that region that play reggae, but they are not considered reggae bands or Rasta bands. Natty Dread, he said, is a group of real Rastafarian brethren who play reggae music. "Their music deals with social issues, deals with political issues and generally speaking, topical issues," he said.
By Basil Walters Sunday Observer staff reporter waltersb@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Jamaican engineer and producer Sam Clayton Jr has been living in France long enough to know a lot of what's happening there, especially in the music industry. So when Clayton Jr, during a recent visit to Jamaica, told us that France is reggae music's biggest market outside of Jamaica, he spoke with the authority of someone in the know.
"I know France is the biggest reggae country outside of Jamaica. Yes, it's a bigger market than the US, it's a bigger market than England," asserted Clayton Jr, whose father is well-known Rastafari elder, Brother Sam Clayton, leader of the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari.
Members of the Natty Dread Band from the Reunion Islands along with producer Steven Stewart standing left, Sly Dunbar second left and Robbie Lyn fourth from right, at the Harry J Recording Studio recently. Stooping in front left is Sam Clayton Jr, producer/engineer and interpreter. Clayton Jr, who was here with the band Natty Dread working on an album at the Harry J Recording Studio, based his conclusion on the number of bookings being made for reggae artistes in France, the frequency of the music on French radio, and the growing popularity of the Jamaican practice of sound system clashes, though he did not give any numbers.
"I think France is where England was 20, 30 years ago," he said. "In terms of discovering reggae music, learning about it, that's where France is today."
He said that at least once per year he would work with a band in France that wants to come to Jamaica. "It's a big dream for a lot of bands who want to come here and work," he told the Sunday Observer. "Usually, most of the bands are reggae bands. And they come for the sound, they come for the experience, they all come to learn, everybody comes also to get some of our musicians working on their project. And it's a big learning process for them to come here and work."
Clayton Jr, who speaks French as fluently as he speaks English, said without any doubt reggae and hip hop are the music most played on the radio in France.
The French, he said, have not only embraced reggae music but also the culture and the trends that go along with it.
"They have embraced all forms of reggae music, from ska to dancehall," he said. "And one of the big novelties today in France is to have sound clashes between sound systems. There are a lot of sound systems in France - well, a lot of sound systems all over Europe - but in France, every day a new sound system is arriving on the scene."
Influenced by Bob Marley and Rastafari, the band Natty Dread is the first reggae outfit from Reunion Island, an overseas department of France located east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.
According to Clayton Jr, Reunion Island, which is smaller than Jamaica, has "a significant Rastafarian population" .
The band, he said, has been in existence for 15 years. "They were the first reggae band in the Indian Ocean region," he told the Sunday Observer. "They started listening to reggae first by listening to, of course, Bob Marley, then to the two records of the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari. They have embraced all forms of reggae music. Of course, everywhere you go in the Indian Ocean region there is reggae; reggae is very popular there."
He pointed out also that there are a lot of bands in that region that play reggae, but they are not considered reggae bands or Rasta bands. Natty Dread, he said, is a group of real Rastafarian brethren who play reggae music. "Their music deals with social issues, deals with political issues and generally speaking, topical issues," he said.