rootical runnings vol 41

Contents Volume 41

.Show biz.....Ras Biz
.Jah Biz
Show bizness ... Rasta bizness

.....Yes...irie greetings... by now everybody has gotten used to the world of reggae as it has become and one must frankly admit that there remains a lot to be done to clear out conceptions (and the misses) that always lead to the downpressing of something that should be a powerfull and uplifting force. The world has become "smaller" through rapid movement of information and things (including music)...and so they can be rapidly sold or so called bought. I an I have seen too many formations come and pass thru Berlin city in a reggae form, but is pure bizness that a go on nowadays. We all know that the positive Rasta vibes is what drives reggae, but more and more we see the other elements mixing in and trying to cloud the line between Jah vibes in whatever form and a murky kind of backwashy no man's land where "all the beats play"....and since you can't put your finger on what's going on, one might just as well accept it as some kinda version or 'family' of the real thing.....and is dreadlocks at the control....so buying and selling has become a popular (among some) everyday reality but it is understandable difficult to choose what to sell....we hardly have a choice over what we may or can buy!!!!! I remember a time when certain dreadlocks did not even want to touch money scene....now more than ever... it has become the bizness of I an I to get out of the bottomless pit of ignorance and move steadily forward with the guiding light of JAH consciousness.

the term AFRO-DEUTSCHE... a close look at
Yo. Take it or leave it, but in a couple years Berlin will be the 'New York' of Europe, positively!!!! Lotsa things happen since wall fall and new govt. and new capital so you can imaginenwhat's in store. Black men been coming up north long time, and nuff breddahs in Paris and

London because of past tieups with colonisers, but blacks in Germany? Well, yes and it did not just begin yesteryear as one may be tempted to think. Plenty second geretation "mixups" now dot the population landscape and the German language has come up with a word to better classify this up and coming posse. Most times is the fadda black and the mother European. Most Afro-Deutschers are well schooled and taken care of. Some usually display a little-known trait aptly dubbed "middlerioritygoplex" ..Shrinks take note!!!!!

All I can say from a personal point of view is that they are in a world by themselves as they are the ones who know what it is like to be 'half and half' ....must be great!!!! ...As far as the term 'Afro-Deutsche' goes, it can only be rejected by xenophobes...Afros or Deutschers.

Dreaditorial
Hail up everyone... front and front we go, and again the vibes are there to check and be checked again. Runnings a go-go as the changes of life begin to 'ifest, and what's in is in, and what's out just staying out!! Things moving into high gear and ecerything has been or is supposed to be a business or some kind of organisational idea that seems to have only one aim... well at least it's not pro-sick and it's always good to be pro-fit in any way....who the caps fit will always profit (or prophet)...is the same thing when you turn everything downside up. Anyway who's it is in JAH business, or who's prophet is JAH business? Take it any way there and do receive the blessings of JAH every day and night. Some artists tend to enforce that point in their recordings and live performances. Always known to be a radical city, Berlin seems to have less and less room for small dates (reggaewise)...like pre-wall days!!! Reggae has survived the wall, and its effects will remain an integral part of this city's scape....land sea or sound..Yaam is back in force at the original venue and the multitude is always there in full support. The DJs also seemed to have learnt their job...good music and not too much "Pash-pash" to bore us to death!!!! Roots it up selektaz!!!!! A hot summer without such a place is now an almost unthinkable idea. Latest reports tell of another "Yaam" or rather "Maay" located further eastwise of Berlin....always the same problem. Pressure from somewere up keeps driving the roots vibes round and round in circles but with the help of JAH I an I will always overcome fightdowns.

IMPRESSUM

Editor & Publisher
Ras Perez

.ROOTICAL VIBES
.Checks on Reggae and .related musical scenes
.in and around Berlin.

.Comments and/or
.suggestions should be
.addressed to
.The Dreaditor
.Rootical Vibes

www.rasperez.de
Reggae and Ganjah
is there a line of separation?

Here, we are trying to be more realistic than political, moral or even provocative. This is a subject that remains taboo in certain circles and no matter how many songs are sung or how many walks we talk down the streets, those in supposedly "charge" just keep on ignoring the universal outcry...legalise it!! Most people who love reggae did so because they checked out Bob Marley and right away overstood the vibes....When it comes to Peter Tosh is another story. Some say they never liked the tone of his voice...menacing...Marley was also seen as a smoker of herbs, but Tosh was going much further than just accepting blows to his head. How can we love reggae and still deny what gives it most of its inspiration? As Tosh himself is reported to have said...."not smoking herbs is against my religion" .....get the point? Rum and coke is a strange mix but still an accepted "drink" in "society". I an I have heard all the arguments hatched up by "smarties" against the use of herbs by adults. Some people are just against all kinds of smoke...some against all kinds of "drugs" and what we have as a result is this set against the other set and everybody defending his way out of conflicting ideas. Who is right and who is wrong? Common sense (not so common) tells us even before we ask.....

Local Profile... Berlin Artists

Ras Donovan hails from the Caribbean Island of Dominica, often confused with the Dominican Republic. A veteran of the local scene, he has been all and over Berlin and indeed most of Germany. He released his debut album 'Work to do' on his own Lapodan label and is an active and frequent performer. All styles originating from the Caribbean are usually blended into his live repertoire and recorded work. As you read, his latest CD is out on the streets...A.D.T. (for Alcohol Drugs and Tobacco) is the title track..check it out!!! He can be visited on the world wide web at mitglied.lycos.de/WildAlf

 

TikiMan also comesfrom Dominica and in fact comes from the same area as the above-mentioned Ras. They grew up together and put together a reggae band 'Radication Squad' before moving towards Europe. Tiki on lead and Donovan on riddim guitars respectfullively (sic). An active and spirited live performer, Tikiman is also very much involved in the recording and production side of the music scene. His debut CD was recorded in Martinique and released in France and French speaking countries. Recent releases in Berlin have been with Livin' Spirits, and a fresh solo project is in the works. Check Tikiman on the world wide web at false-tuned.de

There are lots and lots of roots and reggae artists with available recorded works but whose too much out there for us to think that we know it all.... most of us are familiar with names like Bunny Wailer or Roots Radics, for example, but what does the large reggae public know about Cosmo, Kweyol Syndicate, Nasio Fontaine, Winston Grennan or Fyah Wyah? Maybe some do but I'm sure that the large majrity don't... so Rootical Vibes readers will be introduced to these very special ordinary reggae artists. With the exception of Kweyol Syndicate, all the others live and have their operations based in the U.S. This is a questionable move; it depends on how one looks at the situation. U.S. born and bred dreds have no choice, really, but people always migrate to the States for a better future and is it right for a Caribbean Islander to leave roots and ital and go seek fame in concrete? Tough one!! Long time big companies stop signing up like mad and people were always looking to JA for Reggae but all that change now. Most conscious roots reggae will not be mass sold or produced. Lucky if you can get a copy or even know it exists. Most humble outta the limelight musics have the raw sound quality, usually live bass and drums. THE VSORAs do not really want to cross over nothing and represent no fusion or confusion. VSORAs usually have a hard time getting good publicity and have to be satisfied to do local sales and distribs...nothing to be compared with the big fishdem!! After the first album is usually a hassle with the second, but it's a world in which they find themselves, not one of their making. It's hard to predict what the future will bring. Sometimes it may even turn out that the real gems are not necessarily those seen and heard by most. What determines the ultimate quality of the art should not be its street value...what it does to the soul is much more important than what the charts say about it....
VSORAs Very Special Ordinary Reggae Artists

Yes hello and greetings to one and all especially those tuned to the universal heartbeat of reggae music. So much has been said and so little 'd been done to link up lovers of reggae until RAW came along to declare WAR on isolation and seperation of the reggae family.What started as an idea is now a great unifying force. Rawsters are now in possession of the ultimate tools needed to spread the vibes all over. For those not yet acquainted with the workings and doings of the movement, information can be readily obtained from the good offices of 'Rootical Vibes'. With currently over one thousand members spread over all the continents of the globe, RAW is set to grow and grow as the family 'gets together'. Nuff respect to the men Papa Pilgrim and Rastaman Nanè. Also big respect to the crew working behind the scenes to make sure the real work is done conferences etc. I have an idea of what it atkes to produce such events and to make them come out irie...in true RAW style!! Hard work man, nothing else....So, to all those who have worked, and those still out there working to forward the reggae vibe, I & I say respect to y'all. Unity is strength. Again thosenseeking further information or RAW membership application forms, should contact 'Rootical Vibes' or RAW's own Tom Pearson via electronic mail at reggaeambassadors.org/joinform.php

Hail up... when the scene had just break and Marley and Tosh was mashing it up, people had a kind of longing for certain something and that something was already there but would be gone faster than we could realise that it was there. 'Legalise It' was really a turning point in the whole history of reggae and Rasta Open book philosophy and from that time the foundations of Babylonia began to show

reggae today
RAW (Reggae Ambassadors World Wide)
......................... Forwarding the reggae vibe....

tips and quips

.Doctor: Jerry can you hear me?
.Jerry: No doctor!!!!

.Pli nou bwè wom pli
.nou bwè sanh sé pli
.movay nou ka fè.
.The more we drink...
.(rum)
.the more we drink blood
.(eat flesh)
.the badder we become.

.No one should ever be hungry
.in a desert..
.Why? Because of
.the sand wich is there

.A true story. .Teacher:
.Boys, who can make
.a simple sentence?
.Listen to..
.(I can't print his name)
."I lost my life in the rebellion!!"

."We.... doh want no
.big time concrete country...
.We want...to able.. to grow...
.our voodoo herbs!!

Matthew Luke .

."Include me out!"

Cheam .

 

next issue

.Other Caribbean musics.

.Promoters, Artists & Managers... the big mix.

.Reggae After 2000..
the same thing or what?

.Eureggae!!??**#*+#!!??
and why not?

.Creole Lesson #2
its weak points. What followed we know all to well....Tech and tricknology take over mind brains and body, and now we are left to swallow rehashed stuff coming out of the mill. Some of it sound o.k though.....Nuff boys come up on stage and do their thing, and there is nothing there to remind us that we're supposed to be celebrating JAH goodness and highness.... Just play the songs because tomorrow is down the road again. Some artists do take time out to deliver some edutainment to the assembled. The people need that!!! As Oscar 'Jimmy' Smith once snapped, "fusion is confusion"!!!! Yes, the outpression must always be multi-faceted with constant and unbending attention to the fact that whoever it is should always be 'jammin' in the name of the Lord'......Rastafari...