Me Right Near The Beach...

When most people think of Jamaican music nowadays they think not much outside of 60s-70s reggae. Now if you're a white college-age American male like me, you know at least a dozen or so people who own at least one BOB MARLEY poster, but that doesn't always mean they are in fact a reggae fan, probably half the time it means they are in fact a ganja fan, and they may not own so much as a single reggae album. The BOB MARLEY poster is of a similar vein to the CHE GUEVARA t-shirt, a passive rebellious symbol that the owner himself usually has no proper understanding of.

Not that I'm knocking the most important and influential reggae artist ever. MARLEY brought reggae out of Jamaican ghettos like Trenchtown and Westmoreland to people all over the world. People who write about music history often call him the first 3rd-world superstar. The man's legacy is undeniable. And hell, I like his music a lot even if he's not my absolute favorite reggae singer.

But his legacy is often so strong that people forget about what's happened to Jamaican music since MARLEY's glory days and aren't paying any attention to what artists are putting out today, which is a shame cause the story is very interesting whether you like the music or not.

In the 80s, a lot of big political and social changes happened in Jamaica. The Socialist People's National Party (PNP) lost elections to the free-market conservative Jamaican Labour Party (JLP), meaning it became more important to catch that gwap than it did to sit around thinking about MARCUS GARVEY or Jah Rastafari. This is when dancehall hit the scene and it continued into the 2000s.

People who don't know the real name for dancehall usually call it Jamaican rap, mainly because that's what it basically is. Hard rhythms, strong emphasis on lyrical skill/rhyming, common themes include having more money than you, dance moves, sexy bitches, ghetto living, glorified violence/guns, drug dealing and general gangsterism, gay bashing, representing your crew/hood, all around a lot of the same elements of American hip hop.



I have such mixed feelings about dancehall (BUJU BANTON as an artist in particular, he might get his own post), musically that is. I don't really like hip hop that much at all, wherever it comes from, with only a few exceptions (I'll probably write about them sometime). Dancehall can be terribly abrasive to the unacustomed ear, and it's extremely intense, especially compared to classic reggae which is where most people are coming from when they discover dancehall.

However, there's also contemporary roots reggae. Guys like CAPLETON, SIZZLA, CHEZIDEK (my personal favorite) and others are modern artists who produce reggae in a more traditional style. You'll hear digital sounds, but ultimately these guys are of the same spirit as the reggae legends of the 60s and 70s.



Whatever does it for you, Jamaica creates great music. As great as BOB MARLEY was, I wish more people would explore more artists to get a greater appreciation of all of this tiny island nation has to offer. Even within the roots reggae era, most people don't know about greats like PETER TOSH, BURNING SPEAR, or even older guys like KEN PARKER.

That's what I say about Jamaican music. BUH-BUH-BUH LORDAMERCY!

Jonesin For More

As I stand right now, my strongest cultural influence comes down to one word; internets. But I suppose I should start at the beginning.

When I was around 14-15 years old, I had a revelation of sorts. It was at this time I realized a lot about who I was, what was right for me, what truly made me happy, priorities, goals and aspirations, all that kind of coming-of-age story noise. For the first time in my life I was comfortable with myself, and for the most part I've stayed that way. That being said, I'm 18 years old now and if I'm lucky there's still a whole hell of a lot in store for me in the future, but I do maintain a sure-of-myself state of mind I like to call 'an old soul', or sometimes 'being from the future'.

One of the things I came to discover as a part of this revelation was that the world all around us is a wonderfully alive and interesting place for those willing to look hard enough. Contemporary guys like Anthony Bourdain and old school guys like Jean Shepherd nurtured my appreciation for the everyday extraordinary, but more on them some other time.

I became a much more involved internets person. At first I mostly just BS'ed with people on forums and whatnot, which had its own charms, but when I found the iNternets Celebrities, it changed my mentality about what the internets were really for. These guys spoke my language.



I really dug the idea of two guys going to McDonalds and having an adventure, and that same spirit runs through almost everything these guys do (together and apart, I might add).

When I joined Twitter I was able to start being creative myself. I know creative is probably a generous term for an extended series of smart remarks and goofy life commentary, but it was still mine, by George, and it's good for my spirit to twit things out. But every once in a while I wish I could more fully express an idea in regular blog format, so that's what's gonna go down here.

This was kind of a lifes story post, and I don't plan on doing that many more of these. I'll be back to my usual ish of music, movies, cultural effluvia, all that next time, I promise.