Jah Shaka
Encyclopedia
Jah Shaka has been operating a South East London-based, roots reggae
Jamaican sound system
since the early 1970s. His name is an amalgamation of the Rastafarian
term for God and that of a Zulu
warrior, Shaka Zulu.
such as Public Image Ltd and The Slits
.
In 1980 Shaka played himself in the film Babylon
(directed by Franco Rosso, although he directed the scene he appeared in), operating his Sound System in a soundclash at the climax of the story.
Shaka stayed true to his spiritual and distinct musical style during the 1980s when many other Sound Systems had started to follow the Jamaican trend towards playing less orthodox styles tending towards slack
dancehall
music.
In 1989 Shaka visited Jamaica and worked with many musicians there, including King Tubby
.
On 23 September 2000 he suffered numerous injuries during a house fire.
In 2002 Jah Shaka appeared before a large crowd in New York City's Central Park
.
Live footage of Shaka is featured in the documentary All Tomorrow's Parties based on the musical festival, which was released in 2009.
The Jah Shaka Sound System continues to appear regularly in London, with occasional tours of the United States, Europe and Japan.
, Johnny Clarke
, Bim Sherman
and Prince Alla
as well as UK groups such as Aswad and Dread & Fred. He has released a number of dub
albums, often under the Commandments of Dub banner.
Artists featured on more recent releases include both established singers like Tony Tuff
, and new emerging artists like Rockaway and Principle - who have sung over riddim
s produced by his son Malachi, known as Young Warrior.
, Iration Steppas, Jah Warrior
, Channel One Sound System, Conscious Sounds, The Rootsman and Aba Shanti-I. Non-reggae artists such as Basement Jaxx
have cited Jah Shaka as being their best night out ever.
Jah Shaka events are renowned for attracting a wide audience from all backgrounds, races and ages. His dances attract numbers previously thought unthinkable for this genre of music. Shaka believes it to be a testament to the quality of the message that he expounds in his choice of music and his Rastafarian beliefs. His followers are known to be vocally ardent, and have developed dance steps that resemble African war dances.
, where the foundation has bought 7 acres (28,328 m²) of land in Agri, thirty miles outside of Accra
. It has also managed to distribute medical supplies, wheelchairs, library books, carpentry tools, drawing materials and records to clinics, schools and radio stations in the Accra area establishing important links with the local communities. Shaka himself was actually a youth worker years ago, and has regularly been quoted encouraging youths to study geography and history so they know "whats happened, where it's happening and who's doing it".
Roots reggae
Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae that deals with the everyday lives and aspirations of the artists concerned, including the spiritual side of Rastafari and with the honoring of God, called Jah by rastafarians. It also is identified with the life of the ghetto sufferer, and the rural poor...
Jamaican sound system
Jamaican sound system
In the context of Jamaican popular culture, a sound system is a group of disc jockeys, engineers and MCs playing ska, rocksteady or reggae music...
since the early 1970s. His name is an amalgamation of the Rastafarian
Rastafari movement
The Rastafari movement or Rasta is a new religious movement that arose in the 1930s in Jamaica, which at the time was a country with a predominantly Christian culture where 98% of the people were the black descendants of slaves. Its adherents worship Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia , as God...
term for God and that of a Zulu
Zulu Kingdom
The Zulu Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Zulu Empire or, rather imprecisely, Zululand, was a monarchy in Southern Africa that extended along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to Pongola River in the north....
warrior, Shaka Zulu.
Career
Jah Shaka started out on the Freddie Cloudburst Sound System as an operator, before setting up his own sound system. By the late 1970s Shaka's system rapidly had gained a large and loyal following due to the combination of spiritual content, high energy rhythms, massive sonority, and his dynamic personal style. That following notably included many of the pioneers of post-punkPost-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
such as Public Image Ltd and The Slits
The Slits
The Slits were a British punk rock band. The quartet was formed in 1976 by members of the bands The Flowers of Romance and The Castrators. The members were Ari Up , who died of cancer in October 2010, and Palmolive , with Viv Albertine and Tessa Pollitt replacing founding members, Kate Korus and...
.
In 1980 Shaka played himself in the film Babylon
Babylon (film)
Babylon is a 1980 film that depicts the struggles of a Black British working class musician. It stars Brinsley Forde of the reggae band, Aswad. It was co-written by Martin Stellman and Franco Rosso who also directed it. It also starred Karl Howman and Trevor Laird...
(directed by Franco Rosso, although he directed the scene he appeared in), operating his Sound System in a soundclash at the climax of the story.
Shaka stayed true to his spiritual and distinct musical style during the 1980s when many other Sound Systems had started to follow the Jamaican trend towards playing less orthodox styles tending towards slack
Slackness
Slackness refers to vulgarity in West Indian culture, behavior and the music. It also refers to a subgenre of dancehall music with straightforward sexual lyrics performed live or recorded. Its form and pronunciation varies throughout the Caribbean....
dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
music.
In 1989 Shaka visited Jamaica and worked with many musicians there, including King Tubby
King Tubby
King Tubby was a Jamaican electronics and sound engineer, known primarily for his influence on the development of dub in the 1960s and 1970s...
.
On 23 September 2000 he suffered numerous injuries during a house fire.
In 2002 Jah Shaka appeared before a large crowd in New York City's Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
.
Live footage of Shaka is featured in the documentary All Tomorrow's Parties based on the musical festival, which was released in 2009.
The Jah Shaka Sound System continues to appear regularly in London, with occasional tours of the United States, Europe and Japan.
Label
On his own record label he has released music from Jamaican artists such as Max RomeoMax Romeo
Max Romeo is a reggae and roots reggae recording artist who has achieved chart success in his home country, and in the UK. Romeo was responsible for launching an entirely new sub-genre of reggae, whose overtly suggestive lyrics caused an outcry but took a massive hold of the music scene regardless...
, Johnny Clarke
Johnny Clarke
Johnny Clarke , Whitfield Town, Kingston, Jamaica) is a reggae musician.-Biography:Clarke grew up in the Kingston ghetto of Whitfield Town. In 1971 he won a talent contest in Bull Bay, his prize a meeting with producer Clancy Eccles, with whom he recorded his first song, "God Made the Sea and the...
, Bim Sherman
Bim Sherman
Jarret Lloyd Vincent better known by one of his stage aliases Bim Sherman, was a Jamaican musician and singer-songwriter.-Biography:...
and Prince Alla
Prince Alla
Prince Alla aka Prince Allah or Ras Allah is a roots reggae singer whose career began in the 1960s, and has continued with a string of releases into the 2000s.-Biography:...
as well as UK groups such as Aswad and Dread & Fred. He has released a number of dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
albums, often under the Commandments of Dub banner.
Artists featured on more recent releases include both established singers like Tony Tuff
Tony Tuff
Tony Tuff is a reggae singer who was a member of The African Brothers in the late 1960s and 1970s before embarking on a solo career.-Biography:...
, and new emerging artists like Rockaway and Principle - who have sung over riddim
Riddim
Riddim is the Jamaican Patois pronunciation of the English word "rhythm," but in dancehall/reggae parlance it refers to the instrumental accompaniment to a song. Thus, a dancehall song consists of the riddim plus the "voicing" sung by the deejay. The resulting song structure may be taken for...
s produced by his son Malachi, known as Young Warrior.
Style and influence
Shaka's uncompromising "Warrior Style" has inspired a host of new UK reggae artists and Sound Systems such as Eastern Sher, The DisciplesThe Disciples (band)
The Disciples are a dub roots reggae group who formed in 1986 by brothers Russ D. and Lol Bell-Brown. They are said to be named by Jah Shaka after producing exclusively for Jah Shaka. They recorded 4 albums of instrumental dub for Jah Shaka's King Of The Zulu Tribe label during 1987 to 1990.Russ D....
, Iration Steppas, Jah Warrior
Jah Warrior
Jah Warrior is a United Kingdom roots reggae/dub production team, record label, sound system, and musical group centred around Steve Mosco.- Overview :...
, Channel One Sound System, Conscious Sounds, The Rootsman and Aba Shanti-I. Non-reggae artists such as Basement Jaxx
Basement Jaxx
Basement Jaxx are a British electronic dance music duo from London, England consisting of Felix Buxton born 1971 and Simon Ratcliffe born 1 December 1969. They first rose to popularity in the late 1990s...
have cited Jah Shaka as being their best night out ever.
Jah Shaka events are renowned for attracting a wide audience from all backgrounds, races and ages. His dances attract numbers previously thought unthinkable for this genre of music. Shaka believes it to be a testament to the quality of the message that he expounds in his choice of music and his Rastafarian beliefs. His followers are known to be vocally ardent, and have developed dance steps that resemble African war dances.
Non-musical work
Shaka has also established the Jah Shaka Foundation to carry out assistance with projects in GhanaGhana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, where the foundation has bought 7 acres (28,328 m²) of land in Agri, thirty miles outside of Accra
Accra
Accra is the capital and largest city of Ghana, with an urban population of 1,658,937 according to the 2000 census. Accra is also the capital of the Greater Accra Region and of the Accra Metropolitan District, with which it is coterminous...
. It has also managed to distribute medical supplies, wheelchairs, library books, carpentry tools, drawing materials and records to clinics, schools and radio stations in the Accra area establishing important links with the local communities. Shaka himself was actually a youth worker years ago, and has regularly been quoted encouraging youths to study geography and history so they know "whats happened, where it's happening and who's doing it".
External links
- Official website
- Jah Warrior Records - Profile of the legendary Jah Shaka.
- Jah Shaka interview by Ray Hurford for Boomshakalacka zine, 1990.
- Jah Shaka interview
- Jah Shaka interview by Ray Hurford and Colin Moore
- Jah Shaka interview by Pier Tosi
- The Jah Shaka Dub Commandments - Illustrated Discography
- PUNKCAST#171 Live video of Jah Shaka performing in NYC's Central Park on Jun 23 2002. (RealPlayerRealPlayerRealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:...
) - Jah Shaka to play at BASS 2010 - Jah Shaka playing this June as part of Bass FestivalBass FestivalThe Bass Festival, also known as Bass Derby, is held during the second weekend of October in Rio Vista, California. It is the celebration of bass coming into the Sacramento River. It features a carnival, a street fair, live bands and a bass fishing competition. It is the largest annual event in Rio...