United Reggae Magazine #7

Babylon City by Clinark
by Erik Magni
Bermuda born singer Clinark – who
dropped a Michael Jackson tribute
album two years ago – sends out a
message for the youth with his latest
single Babylon City, voiced on House
of Riddim’s Crisis riddim. Clinark now
lives in Edmonton, North London, and
saw firsthand the devastation last
year’s riots had on his local community
and nearby Tottenham. “I had the
Crisis Riddim sent to me by Sam Gilly
at the House of Riddim several months
ago and I just had the chorus, ‘can’t
you see what a gwan in Babylon City,’
as I watched the riots unfold on the TV
last summer, I immediately thought of
this song,” explains Clinark in a press
release, and continues:
“When I passed through the affected
areas, seeing that whole buildings had
to be torn down I was shocked. I just
felt able to finish this song with those
images in mind. It’s a dire warning that
we need to focus on our children’s wellbeing,
more than ever, to safeguard
Impression by Zen
Bow
by Erik Magni
Seb Carayol is a French writer that has
been writing for the now folded French
reggae magazine Natty Dread as well
as acclaimed U.S. magazine Wax Poetics.
He has been writing about obscure
reggae for almost a decade and now
wants to give something back to the
artists he has encountered. His new
venture Reel-Heavy Records is reissu-
the future and all need to communicate
better.” Babylon City is currently avail-
ing a long lost roots gem from Jamaican
born U.S. resident Zen Bow. ‘Impression’
12” was originally released
in 1986 in 1,000 copies on a small
label based in Connecticut and nowadays
fetches huge sums in the collectors
market, and some have paid up to
$600 to get their hands on it.
‘Impression’ 12” will be available in
stores on May 15th, and in the meantime
you might just check Seb Carayol’s
story on Zen Bow in Wax Poetics
no. 43 September/October 2010.
able as digital download.