The Curse of "White Reggae"
- Thread starter martin
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matt b
Indexing all opinion
redcrescent said:
dunno where i read that then i knew he was based in germany.
god knows what he sounds like, given this interview:
http://www.germaica.net/observer/archiv/19/eng/interview_gentleman.html
matt b said:
whoah, i think we're taking that a little far, though. doctor's darling did okay eventually because of tanya's it's a pity, but it took two years to break the tune and none of the other tracks on the rhythm went anywhere. they also haven't had a follow-up, either. gentleman, however, does okay there but i find it a bit odd to hear a white german dude chatting patois and talking about repatriation to africa etc.
redcrescent
Well-known member
Chart-busting pop reggae, of course! It's OK stuff, seriously, certainly the biggest name in German reggae at the mo', and you get the feeling his heart's in the right place, but if I had a pile of vintage dub or some pre-release JA 7"s I know what I would be listening to instead.matt b said:
matt b
Indexing all opinion
redcrescent said:
i was refering to his speaking rather than singing voice (i have a couple of his tunes)
>dave stelfox:
>whoah, i think we're taking that a little far, though. doctor's darling did okay eventually because of >tanya's it's a pity, but it took two years to break the tune and none of the other tracks on the rhythm >went anywhere.
i've heard it on various soundtapes throughout that 2 year period- it never went away, which is a good sign. how many other european producers have had 1 rhythm lps put out by a JA label?- its a pretty big deal, historically, surely?
>gentleman, however, does okay there but i find >it a bit odd to hear a white german dude chatting patois >and talking about repatriation to africa etc.
i refer you to the strange interview linked above
redcrescent
Well-known member
I agree completely. While the former point may seem anything from cool (if you're white and German and seeking some Black 'authenticity') to utterly insulting (if you're a patois speaker) the last point is worryingly close to neo-Nazi ideology. You'd find quite a number of people in German-speaking Europe who'd be delighted with the forced repatriation of Ausländer, especially non-Whites.stelfox said:
vp is a US label.... the doctor's darling was big in europe and the us ... not so big in jamaica at all. it only broke a wee while ago. this is from the horse's mouth, when i was talking to tanya stephens. it's a pity is a very good track and i love it but it doesn't alter the fact that what ends up on vp and greensleeves records isn't always indicative of what's happening "a yard". they're made for euro/us audiences, not people living in jamiaca. this aint in any way a diss but it's true and sometimes worth remembering.
gentleman isn't a nazi. the whole rasta schtick (in this case of a baldhead white man, no less!) is something people just say toi get heard: rastafari, repatriation to africa, bun out di chi-chi, raise up your lighters, smoke di ganja.... it's all pretty close to meaningless when you see these things for what they are, just fallback lines that are almost obligatory in the context of live deejaying at least...
redcrescent
Well-known member
I'm quite certain Gentleman isn't a Nazi, but any talk of Black people being shipped back to Africa, however voluntarily, gets my goat (as does the gun talk and 'bun chi-chi man' business). Surely a bit of reflection on the meaning of certain phrases, even if they have become common utterances in the dancehall, is due?
like stelfox says the rasta schtick is kind of obligatory and perhaps even more so for someone like gentleman who is striving for acceptance in jamaica as well as trying to please a white german audience whose intense identification with jamaican culture and language can, admittedly, seem a bit weird...
the ironically named YT is a white guy from Nottingham (??) and is being heavily supported by robbo ranx, seani b and so on and by all accounts he smashed it at the sting festival in jamaica. there's some stuff on the 1xtra site about him and i think molexroots had a rip from a 1xtra show with him, suncycle and various others. he's great - distinctive style, funny, conscious lyrics, switches between patois and uk slang. he's got an lp due later in the year.
the ironically named YT is a white guy from Nottingham (??) and is being heavily supported by robbo ranx, seani b and so on and by all accounts he smashed it at the sting festival in jamaica. there's some stuff on the 1xtra site about him and i think molexroots had a rip from a 1xtra show with him, suncycle and various others. he's great - distinctive style, funny, conscious lyrics, switches between patois and uk slang. he's got an lp due later in the year.
matt b
Indexing all opinion
thaks for the insider knowedge dave, respect. i thought VP was still a JA label in the same way that tuff gong is- is it totally american owned/run/based?
so basically, 'white reggae' (being created by white people who don't have a 'deeper understanding' of reggae), is shit; whilst the odd white/european and black/european artist makes fantastic records.
so basically, 'white reggae' (being created by white people who don't have a 'deeper understanding' of reggae), is shit; whilst the odd white/european and black/european artist makes fantastic records.
matt b said:
VP is run by the Chin family, a family of Chinese-Jamaicans who arrived in Queens in 1979. VP Records is purely an American concern - they were involved in the music business before coming to America, but not as VP Records.
Here's an interesting article on them:
http://www.nyjournalnews.com/newsroom/060504/e01w05reggae.html
