Reggae legend Lucky Dube’s Prisoner album is getting a 60th anniversary edition to honor the late singer’s 60th birthday. Dube used reggae to bring attention to social issues that were happening in his native South Africa. He started his career recording mbaqanga, which was a form of Zulu pop musicContinue Reading
Is Buju Banton right about Afrobeats being inferior to reggae and dancehall because the music has no socio-political anthems? Is Billboard’s list of honorably mentioned pop stars who did not make their best of the 21st century list accurate? Will Afrika Bambaataa’s reputation be restored after a healing momentContinue Reading
Bob Marley and the Wailer’s “Lively Up Yourself” first appeared on their 1974 album, Natty Dread. The song was first recorded in 1973 and reflected the band’s political and spiritual growth as they got deeper into Rastafarianism. The religion refers to God as Jah and the followers call the customsContinue Reading
Liam Bailey’s “Mercy Tree” willfully calls out racism in the true spirit of resistance reggae. Bailey, who spent his childhood in Nottingham, England, tapped into his memories of “all the cliche racism that happens when people started mixing up in the ’80s in England” to write “Mercy Tree.” The statelyContinue Reading