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SUBVERSION IN SOUND
Author(s): Jalani Niaah and Sonjah Stanley Niaah
Source: Social and Economic Studies, Vol. 55, No. 1/2, POPULAR CULTURE (March and June
2006), pp. 167-189
Published by: Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, University of the
West Indies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27866462
Accessed: 08-07-2016 01:32 UTC
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ISSN: 0037-7651
IN SOUND
Jalan i Niaah Sc Sdnjah Stanley Niaah*
ABSTRACT:
No history of the development of the sound system, of DJs or indigenous
Jamaican popular music can be told without reference to stalwarts such as
Count Machuki, King Stitt and Ewart 'U Roy' Beckford. This paper is a
preliminary look at U Roy using a multi-disciplinary and multi-textual
the Dj added to the musical arena, thus undermining the influence of,
while still winning appeal from, 'polite society'. Notably, the musical
laboratory or sound space gave credence to the artistry and culture of those
foundation DJs, May 3, 2003, UWI, and the Caribbean Soundscapes conference,
New Orleans, March 12-13,2004. We are grateful for the comments received from
scholars at both events in addition to the anonymous reviewers of this paper.
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of the DJ, especially the chapter on Jamaican Reggae. See also Cooper (1993);
Stolzoff (2000).
5 For a discussion of the history and evolution of Dancehall especially in Kingston,
see Stanley Niaah (2004; 2004a).
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Admiral Cosmic from Shady Grove near Papine, and so on. While
sound system operators achieved the fame of prime ministers in
their local contexts, they were inextricably linked with DJs once
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dead or deaf: he jammed up the musical circuits with his live jive
dancehall flavour. U Roy's style epitomized the popular sound of
2. Expertise:
Version
3. Apparatus:
The DJ Station
4. Domain:
The Nation
5. Focus:
6. Ambition:
7. Vocation:
DJ/Teacher/Daddy
the people
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The first two tunes recorded with Duke Reid were 'Wake the Town'
and 'Rule the nation'. Even U Roy was unaware of what he had
produced when he started to hear the tunes on the radio. The
recordings became so successful they eventually captured the
number one and two positions on the song chart. Subsequent to the
Reid was the fact that money earned was really for the
establishment and running of U Roy's home.
When ? start work fi Duke Reid then my arrangement with
Duke Reid was 'Duke with my likkle royalty I going ... want a
likkle house, yuh know', wid mi royalty. Well I used to go to
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Other DJs recording for Duke Reid were driving cars pretty soon
after working with Duke and even some of the employees of Duke
wondered and might have said to him "how come U Roy don't have
a car yet and other DJ have car and dem just come" (U Roy, personal
interview, April 2003). In response to these queries about owning a
car, U Roy explained that he had a bed, a good chair, gas stove, a
'likkle fridge', his woman and two kids and there was no car he had
ever seen that could hold all of those things. His current home is the
product of his employment with Duke Reid and that has always
been a priority. U Roy now lives in a community which is deemed
a ghetto. His presence there represents a certain standard of so
called 'ghetto' humility and dignity, often associated with lack of
ambition or 'worthlessness' on the part of the lower-classes to move
beyond their circumstances. On the other hand this 'worthlessness'
reinterpreted, could be seen as the conviction to build in one's own
community for the community.
wi give dem some tune like 'Wear you to the Ball'. He explained
that as he opened his mouth the creator filled it with words. Even if
he writes something down to record while in the studio, by the time
explanation was that his creator had blessed him with the gift (U
Roy, personal interview, April 2003).
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was very keen to tell his engineer, sometimes with a gun salute for
emphasis "mine yuh wipe off dat yuh nuh Smithie [be careful not
to erase that Smithie]".
U Roy took hits and made them bigger hits. Original songs
were superceded by the U Roy version of them, an expertise that
was concretized within his first album 'Version Galore'. Whether it
was the hit songs of the Paragons, the Melodians, John Holt, or
Alton Ellis it was U Roy's version of them that was retained in the
people's memory bank. By just listening to what was being sung, U
Roy just "come in" and the engineers would clean it up, manipulate
the sonic nuances with their technical expertise. Duke Reid was a
great influence on the development of U Roy's versions as well as
other artists to come. One of the stories U Roy shared was that Reid
was responsible for the recording of 'What is catty', a tune that was
inspiration for U Roy to sing the tune and for the engineers to
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April 2003).
his own sound system and had the capacity to build one almost
overnight. The human voice added to the recording machine, and
the manipulation of the sound tracks by Tubby helped to propel the
DJ from side walk talker, to recording and touring both locally and
the University of the West Indies in 1960. The concept describes the author's
reading of the 'institutionalization' of indigenous Caribbean cultural studies
projects and questions the role of the University within that context.
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law, the 'polite' but often violently imposed law, as tactic of the
State, and the way Dancehall creators return this 'polite violence' in
the subversive activities of perpetual celebration.
The underside of the joy that the sound system brought for U
Roy was the bad reputation and its effects that sound systems such
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carry crowd?" To this, U Roy replied "Yes Boss". "But yuh mus
control dem man!" was the rejoinder from the Officer. But the DJ
had no control over the crowd, save his selections that themselves
drove the people wild. Unfortunately, the saying was that 'if yuh
want to find bad boy go to the dance where U Roy and Tubby's
pia/.
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9 Cross Roads is the de facto class/geographical divide located in the South Central
region of the Kingston Metropolitan Area. Generally, it is thought that the poor
live below and the rich live above Cross Roads.
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Sound Space
The DJ is focused on the task of 'hitting the people with music', a hit
that brings no pain. An empty space is transformed into a dance hall
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art and philosophy, but also the evolution of poor men into stars.
With his signature sounds, scatting, jive talking, jazz ethos, U Roy
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But there was criticism that the music had no political or social
commentary and rocksteady could not advance the political cause
U Roy has released over twenty five albums. Your Ace from Space
(1995) is the Trojan produced compilation of thirty popular tracks
recorded between 1969 and 1970.12 The album captures the DJ at his
(Thesis).
12 It is important to note that the only other DJ who comes close to this level of
musical production is Buju Banton who holds the record for the most number one
Dancehall hits. For additional works on U Roy, his influence and importance, see
Francis (2000) and Foster et al (1988).
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of this paper who pointed to this dimension of U Roy's work and style.
Henderson is considered the greatest DJ in history and one of the group called the
'Original 13'. For additional material see Nelson (1988), Brewster and Broughton
(1999) among numerous world wide web references.
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early 1970s and eventually form the foundation for hip hop and
14 From Robinson, Quela "What you Need to Know about the Disco Part 2: The
Rhythm and the Blues (1948-56)", http://www.sistersf.com/articles/discoPart2.
php, pp.3
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words'.
relax the (screw) faces (of the wicked) to facilitate good, and the
girl be cool...I have got enough soul to make your liver quiver..."
(in 'Same Song').
The issue of homelessness, a sort of wanderlust, carefree space
of refuge, that the musical arena affords, is taken up in U Roy and
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shine."
16 See Pollard (2000) for an extended explanation of Rastafari lexicon and meanings.
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home and read dem book, cau' this DJ business is not going tek
them anywhere'. U Roy can tell you that he didn't necessarily know
money fi do dem tings yah an' you ... never get dem t'ings ?
Someone woulda haffi do di work... You haffi gi dem man deh
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and a new era has come, certain themes, norms, codes of conduct
Bibliography
Brathwaite, Kamau (1995 [1984]). History of the Voice: The Development of
Nation Language in Anglophone Caribbean Poetry, London: New Beacon
Books.
Brewster, Bill and Frank Broughton (1999). Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The
Road.
Chang, Kevin & Wayne Chen (1998). Reggae Routes: The Story of Jamaican
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Foster, Chuck, Sister Morri, & Hank Holmes (1988). 'U Roy: Words of
Wisdom', in Beat, Vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 26-34.
West Indies.
Campus.
Stolzoff, Norman (2000). Wake the Town and Tell the People: Dancehall
Culture in Jamaica, Durham, N.C: Duke University Press.
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Discography
U Roy (1995). Your Ace from Space, Trojan, UK.
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