Rasta; Pre 1965 versus post 1990.

[Jawge]

Give me your thoughts on: Blacks being the decison makers in the corporate on cultural aspect of JA. Also blacks being on top in Education.

BTW I agree with your points.

[Sir X]

Huge objection here, reggaes development had a lot to do with Rastafarian influence , until dancehall came along. Rastafarian faith /movement /development or lack of it due to reggaes success is a debatable argument that has time to be debated as the two are still evolving.

Whether the musicians themselves were Rasta they must have had a heavy influence from them in their environments , fact is Ska development was in East Kingston , where you find Alpha boys school and Warrieka Hills a Rasta encampment at the time.

The Joke at the time was that Rastas were being schooled by a catholic institution . Don Drummond himself was noted for stop playing whenever a white woman danced to any of his songs , his apprentice Rico Rodriquez was from Warrieka Hills a known Rastafarian.

When the skatallites split , 2 super groups were formed , Rolando Alphonso and the Soul Vendors and Tommy McCook and the Supersonics churning most of the hard core dubs.

It cannot be coincidence that in the advent of reggae so many groups adopted the Rasta faith .The environment at the time early 70s, Bob was just a budding super star with no influence , up unto his death it was argued his music was never appreciated in his own land .Bob reached his heights at the end of the 70s early 80s long after Rastas were persecuted and discriminated against on a nationalistic level ,in the late 60 s early 70s music was one of their refuges, music of the time was more into the black power and the back to Africa movement a time when the faith must have flourished and had influence over anything consciously African , why would music be the exception ?

To say it all happened on Bobs soldiers is to me a slap in Jamaicas musical conscious face ! The fact that Bob Marley & the wailers found international success out of it is a different issue, it had to be someone and it was one of the Rastafarian faith .

Jamaicans international musical explosion did not start under Bob Marley , it was in the process way before him.He just took it to another level with his Rastafarian faith being the exotic fruit the icing on the cake.

The fact that we have different genres of reggae doesn’t excuse the fact that the Rastafarian influence played a huge part and we should stop specifying reggae in a category by itself as it is really under the umbrella of Jamaican music , before reggae , ska and rock steady were making inroads on the U.K charts , reggae just continued the path that Jamaican music played (Bob Marley and the wailers being at the forefront ) and now Dance hall.

The difference is the U.K was the gateway to global exposure not anymore, wherever you have a heavy Jamaican population , a sound/artist will buss , in this day of internet , its just an explosion waiting to happen from any corner of the earth from any creed, nationality and colour as it pertains to Jamaican music, ska, rock steady , reggae or dancehall.

My 2 cents.

[Stonigut]

Very nice Xman, many thanks, you obviously are a little older or a little more linked in than we are to the early and mid 60's and the evolution of Ska into Rocksteady, Ska is really something that I have almost no emotional connection to, but all the Rocksteady tunes were kicking off when my parents were taking me to those parties as a little youth so nuff vibes from the Rocksteady era in my brain.

[Sir X]

LOL ...X is from the general 3s and tiger ,shabba era , hol a fresh was one of my anthems.lol

I found ska listening to RJR oldies and thought what was this rudie boy/007 / eastern standard/sammy dead time thing about.I just fell in love with the horns.

[Exile]

I was youth back then and I went on a school trip to see HIM...on a Train Trip I think from KIN to Mobay....Rasta was everywhere - this was at Denbeigh Showground in May Pen...I still have vivid memories...I saw the man...a small man in stature...
I agree, the fabric of Rasta, the essence of its struggle, culture, has been diluted by the dreadlocked Reggae singers, the fashionistas and the feeble-hearted or weakhearts...but the popularization of rasta by people like Marley gave strong positive influence to oppressed people worlwide and has its many positives..I've met so many people in my lifetime..from all around the globe who have been positively influenced...but still the negative minority made an impact...no everyman whe dread a Rasta!
Back in the day the Rastaman's chant or greeting was 'peace and love' and this they expressed to us kids = we took it as a joke then - to say 'peace' just to hear the response 'peace and love'....
Listen to Bunny Wailers Rastaman song to get a good picture..

[Gamma]

selah ...exile...selah!

[Shatta]

I have about 8 documentaries that would give you a deeper understanding of the Rasta movement, spirituality, Nyabingi and why His Majesty was so revered.

Also let me add that while most of us in Jamiaca where unaware of who the rasta's were biblically the powers that be weren't. The rasta movement was not prepared for the sustained effort to kill them off that came about after the success of the music

Let me try and outline it this way

We are spiritual creatures before we are physical being so having established that one of the things that codify behaviour is music
You can talk until you are blue but those very same words set to music will resonate more with its listeners than your speech alone.

Now imagine those words that are inspired by the creator after you have communed with her when meditating and partaking in the holy herb(body free from alcoholic poisons and chemical additives is a must!) and set to a music that connects to your heart beat and what you have is a music ordained by god to carry God's message to the flocks.

Now you understand why true reggae has stood the test of time and these new generations can't seem to get it as the music protects itself and you can't hustle god's words.

The material culture came about because to rule and control people you have to appeal to their lower level and so you get rid of the culture music off the radio while taking pay to play Kartel and others and then blame the children for living what they hear. Our main issue is that we have failed to indentify with our African ancestors so that we can go back to fetch what we have lost and that is our spirituality that the music used to teach us on a daily basis when we walk pass a shop, hear it blaring out of a bus or taxi a dat use to keep us and sustain us on god's path but now we have turned out backs on God while chasing after "dem man deh" fiat money.

How we fi have people who no love children, no want children, no love black woman and are extremely selfish running the country and expect love and godliness?

So before the prophet signs off it would be remiss of me not to remind you all who was it that foretold the condition that Jamaica would find itself in whereby we would be faced with a choice of "the music or the bullet"?

www.myspace.com/cdfreakmusic blogs and Stonigut most of my customers who buy my documentaries are whites who remark to me that bob marley was one of the six greatest men to have walked the planet.

respect