Global Reggae Charts - Issue #3 / July 2017

global reggae charts
featured artist
sense. Commercially it is sound because an established,
eager fan base drives sales (and streams!).
From an artistic point-of-view, the approach allows
an artist to develop his or her sound. While there
certainly is something to the rawness of an artist’s
early releases, the digital revolution has pushed the
first-release-point to ever earlier stages. A lot of the
music we find on Soundcloud these days would have
merely been a demo in earlier times. It’s great for
fans and artists that these early artifacts can be listened
to these days. Artists can start to develop a following
early on and fans can reconstruct entire careers
with more ease. However, not labeling the early
output an album comes at almost no cost. Arguably,
though, it increases the debut album’s quality.
Kabaka and Chronixx both choosing that path is interesting
for another reason. In the Jamaican music
tradition, the album doesn’t play as important a role
as in other musical traditions. Reggae and dancehall
were, from their very beginning, closely intertwined
with soundsystem culture. As such, Jamaican music
has always tended towards tunes (long before
the streaming era started; Jamaican music, always
pioneering). What matters on a dance are hits, not
long-form artistry. To be sure, there have always been
great albums made in Jamaica. But they were, arguably,
not the most important means to build your
profile at home (abroad, albums always mattered).
But times change. We live in a globally connected
world. Artists like Chronixx and Kabaka represent a
young Jamaican generation that grew up in the internet-world.
As such, both are very familiar with international
developments in music, in terms of sound
and business. The album is the essential artifact in
most genres. Therefore, it seems only logical that
reggae’s current generation is highly appreciative
of the format. If the two albums fulfill expectations,
it wouldn’t surprise me the least to see more artists
follow suit.
This broad-ranging influence of worldwide music is
also present in Kabaka’s sound. He sure is affluent
in reggae and dancehall, just listen to Can’t Breathe
(or dig a bit deeper into Kabaka’s catalogue, and find
songs like Well Done, Lead The Way or the Protoje
combination Warrior). At the same time, Kabaka
always drew inspiration from a broader range of
sounds. In his works, you’ll find hip-hop influences
(including full-on rap tracks like King Kabaka), bass
music elements (e.g. Liberal Opposer) and even a
feature with the Colombian indie-pop singer Kali
Uchis.
Thus, I think it’s fair to regard Kabaka as the poster
child of a broader trend among Jamaican artists. The
current generation shows the willingness to experiment
beyond narrow genre borders and possesses
the talent to turn this versatility into quality music.
While purists might disapprove, I prefer another
perspective: Change and experimentation are indicative
of a music scene’s vitality. Rap 2017 sounds
very different than rap from the 90s. Still, its current
protagonists carry the torch, reference the genre’s
forebears and keep the heritage alive. The same goes
for reggae. And this is great news. Kabaka Pyramid
and his peers are proving that Jamaican music is
well and as vibrant as ever.
Kabaka Pyramid’s debut album Contraband is set to
be released in October 2017.
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global reggae charts | issue 3 / july 2017