Thursday, March 26, 2009

who got the keys to ma bimma?

there are certain things that go through our lives and then cycle back in later on. i have discovered that one of these things for me is reggae/dancehall music, which i will just refer to as reggae. as with probably everyone, i was first exposed to reggae as a kid with bob marley...specifically legend. fast forward years later and i get into artists like jimmy cliff and buju banton (thanks to momma afrika...pow!). but as with my immediate love of marley, this instant infatuation fades and then i before i know it, my reggae listening is el zilcho.

over the years, this re-emergence of reggae music listening continues to come and go like the wind that whistles between jessie's ears. today i have suddenly and randomly got that itch to listen to what jamaica has to offer and i have discovered sizzla, who i like so far. here's one of his videos:

so this probably means i will download his albums and similar artists, listen to them a lot for a few weeks, try to grow some dreads and integrate bumbaclot into my conversational vocabulary. then i will suddenly find that i think all of the songs sound the same and i will quickly drop my jamaican accent and go back to listening to beirut.

it seems a little weird to me that i go through these intense bursts of listening to and enjoying reggae and yet there is also something mildly comforting in knowing that there is a type of music that i can mix in with my usual rock and rap that will always be there and will always kind of be the same. it's a pleasant constant that rotates in and out of my life and i think will continue to do so forever. basically...everything irie. i wonder what it is about reggae music that keeps drawing me back to it? post any non-weed related ideas in my comments.

3 comments:

neumunki said...

I find myself bored by most reggae except for alot of dub stuff. Mad Professor is some deep shit. A new album that you might diggeth is "London Zoo" by The Bug. Kind of a futuristic mix of near UK grime and dancehall stuff. One of my tops of the year.
http://www.myspace.com/thebuguk

kevin said...

i don't think i have listened to mad professor, but i did download london zoo and it did not click with me. i think this phase is briefly passing anyways...i'm sensing a resurgence in swing music and i want to be at the forefront for that.

Phil said...

Is this what you meant by swing music? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCzPVv5GXEM