ROOTICAL VIBES MAGAZINE - Berlin Reggae Runnings

MUSIC and POLITICS

are they compatible?

First of all hello and hi to all those who read this now...long time no see, so the message had ample time to be digested so we can now move forward to other things. In today's world, everything is intertwined whether we know it or not, or whether we believe it or not. Music today is bought and sold like any other commodity on markets of all sorts...black, stock or whatever. Looks like since the role of music is to entertain, it should not partake in the political process which is also "entertainment" but on another level altogether. Again we have to draw reference to the still great Bob Marley and the Wailers' song "Get Up Stand Up". If this song is not purely political, then what is? Who actually wrote that one? Some say is Bob, some say Tosh or Bunny and even Lee have it one some records with his name in brackets as composer. They all did their versions, but the fact remains that this is one great piece of advice to struggling mankind. Since then, lots of artists have been inspired by these simple and truthful words. Artist after artist were suddenly "discovered" and it looked like a change was gonna come....but, slowly and surely we began to see that Uncle Sam (the big market) had Cooked up some sort of plan to keep the message music at a little distance from the masses' ears and then give a huge dose of "what they like to hear". The result is what we see and hear tirelessly until they run outta steam... and there's always lots more lined up to come. Songs with meaningful lyrics just don't stand a chance to be heard over the mass machine. Lots of folks come up with a blockheaded argument that today everbody sings or chants or does whtever he/she wants and that politicians actually have nothing to do with the culture of profanity and downright immorality that has already began pervading almost every aspect of how and why we exist. Well then why are certain acts banned and others not? But that again is anothe problem that wil be checked out lower down. Music has the abilty to reach the masses because everybody likes some kind of music and that makes it a political thing. Can a musician be compared to a politician? They are in many ways comparable...Good question but the answer will have to wait until nextime..

Kabwitt

space

Yes I....greetings to all dub and dubwise fans all over. One thing is certain....the music speaks for itself. Long ago when listening to jazz, I always wondered how the songs got their names. No voice as such except for Satch and Billy to name some of the greats. Anyway, notes a go go and it has to be called something!!! Miles always had artwork about African things and names of songs would send my brother and myself right back to encyclopedias. So while there is so much about what to record or not for the sake of commerciality or politriks or whatever, the instrumentalists have always had their way to forge ahead and record whatever it was registered under...and the price was paid too!!!! Jazz musicians had a hard time breaking the finance threshold although the names were worldwidely known and albums were reportedly selling o.k. DUB is relatively new to the musical scene compared with jazz and other foregone formats, and so the Dubsters have learnt from the mistakes of the past and added freshness to all aspects of the so called musick industry. It is a known fact that there is some sort of mystic or transcendental quality inherent in music itself...bios, books and lots of things have been written about the healing quality of sounds but did they actually say what and how this takes place? It is an experience that has to be lived to understand what is being talked about. Our everyday lives are so programmed that one "miss" sounds like certain disaster. Really good music always goes a little beyond the everyday normal business and lands the listener in world known to many but still to be disovered by the mass. Trying to follow a good jazz solo always makes the mind ask the eternal question..."what was going on in his/her mind ....????" . DUB is music made and conceived by engineers and they are the ones responsible for bringing us to that land or place where the concept of time or timing takes on another perspective. After a well repeated bassline and a couple explosive crashes on the snare, we just wait to hear where the guitars and keyboards are at....or, riddim going down without bass...chapps on piano and guitar and the drummer rolling at the end of the bar to bring in the vibes...pull de spliff hard, shake the head a little and let the vibes sink in.....just one syllable is enough to be captured and sent swirling back to acousto-spatial oblivion.....and we go with it....boom boo doom boom and rak ka ka ka kak fill up the brains to the point where we become in tune with what was supposed to be going on, but it's the end of the track and we get ready for the next one.....looks like ages had gone by, but it was just a normal five to seven minute piece. Nearly everyone owns a watch but nobody can accurately say exactly what "time" is.....what time it is, is not the same as what timing it has....Dubs are in the frontline among musics that aspire to lift the level of consciousness of the listener. A raise in consciousness must result in a corresponding external change....so after a good dub session, everyday trivia find their place and the listener feels more wholly and fully....why?.....because "time" had been temporarily warped, and the mind, for the minutest conceiveable moment, was free.

Ras Zékal

Yo.... it was long time coming, and it finally came. Lots of discussion all over on that touchy subject and no matter what side you on, it must be admitted that somebody or bodies will have to pay one day. So in case you my dear reader still doh get the vibes yet, let us begin.... A couple reggae acts from JA got banned from playing in certain countries, and more importantly America and Inglan'. The banners claimed that the boys record songs that preaching "anti-gay" lyrics or something in that vein...more or less saying that the men were telling their CD buyers or concert comers that they have to beat up "gays" etc. etc. .. We all remember when Buju came out with the Boom Bye Bye....I myself never take that song serious to the point that he really wanted to shoot up these people or even have someone go do it....man does reord all kind of things and these lyrics to me is just lyrics that they put down. The ban really should be to have it not available in shops or radio....just like cigarettes....all over the place...smoking kills!!! cancer!!! but it available in the machine for anyone tall enough to put the money in. So the organised groups effectively pressured the venues to keep the performers out for a good portion of 2004. Lots of arguments on both sides of the divide, but upon closer examination of things, there seems to be some nefarious and affluent influences at work trying their best to do exactly the opposite of what some others strive in earnest to.Many people think that when they listen to a CD or whatever medium, they are hearing a band. Videoclips still have some thinking that they are really playing the electric guitars and whatever, way up on the mountainside or in the desert or polar regions or wherever the scences were deciededly shot...everything that's on the Smellyvision is true, so when Gargamel sing like he wanna shotup battybways, lots of them were scared stiff. I still could never overstand how come a man sing a song and he getting problem for it so many years later....they must have forget or something!!! It looks like they just wanted to give the boys a rough ride and they thought that by banning them from their big shows and monies, the vibes would tone down. Last time I checked there was no let up in the forward charge. Slackness still reigns supreme in the entertainment world and if it doh have some winers it just doh passing. Or...no nice mineral-water drinking clean boys, o.k.?...tanks emteevee!!! What is so laughable about that is the fact that the songs will be played even more and more again, and people will defend their rights to express themselves as they wish....with all the "damocrassic" limits that they say are constitutionally permitted. In all of this, one has to ask....where are the so called "Spiritual" leaders? I doh hear not one denomination taking not even side or edge....Instead, they involved in the same shit that the boys and dem singing loud and clear about....then it becomes bla bla bla is not music you playing or talking or writing....politics and religion...causing more division according to Muta....
In that case we have to agree that the spiritual leaders of the world today are not those they parade for us everyday in the media. I an I see two kinda leaders in the world today....one set there long time just following, and the vibrant and uncompromising awakening of the masses through the power of the Most High JAH RASTAFARI....Garga and the others have nothing to fear about the "organised" groups who doh even know that they are just being used....I mean, who can stand up to JAH? They can ban all their ban but they cannot ban JAH. Asking for apology and issuing bans just show how a weak man is before the Almighty. Emmenemm or what his name is....no ban....but he not a chanter for JAH.....just put one and one together and see if you doh come up with.....eleven maybe?

Touloulou

Hail up....lotsa things a gwaan in de real and virtual world nowadays....the link to everything is slowly but surely being put together with results that threaten to rock the workings of the machine that we love to refer to as society. A reggae song made it to the top position on the German charts and nuff respect is due to the Gentleman who was responsible. A real uplifting video was overplayed to the great satisfaction of reggae buffs. No winey winey bizz but true hard cold facts about everday reality....but again every positive thing always seems to draw some kind of opposite reaction. Some say that is just a setup and others complained that it was a rehashed riddim from long ago...well, you really can't please everyone. Fewer and fewer acts are finding their way to Berlin these times. The boys blaze a reggae trail from South and move towards the North West into Holland, direction London. Can't really blame them because lots of factors at play here tend to discourage tour managers from giving Berlin due consideration. In the meantime, some artists were faced with visa and other paper problems plus the fact that today everyone is almost a suspect terrorist, so watch out how you travel. This year's Cultural exposé passed with the usual irie vibes..lots of folks and kids turning out to take in the multiculturality of Berlin...everything from almost everywhere was represented, and true to natural vibes, it rained a little bit just to keep the vibes cool and fresh. Nothing to compare with Mayday "celebrations" here in Berlin...but that's another story. The sunny times are coming around, and this year looks like the same Yaam biz with DJs and lots of food to eat....those who want to take in some heavy vibes must travel to Köln for Summer Jam or Chiemsee further south....

Tcha T

Hello, has anyone found out who the first musician was? I am sure that musicologists already pretend to have the answer although concrete proof cannot ever be brought forward..or? What exactly do we have in mind when we spend long hours of playing, practicing or reading about music and our particular instrument?..apart from the obvious fun and challenge that it brings, we all know that life is much nicer in recording studios, or touring and playing to great crowds. Work is play and play is work so it can't get better than that...except for when one is called upon to entertain and not play. Most times the "entertainment" gigs are the ones with more than average pay....but one has to be prepared to be treated like a human sound system....just play what you want while they do what they want....by the way no guests please. Nowadays lots of professional mass media entertainers see the power behind the knowledge of music and so they try to portray themselves either as hobby players or to be partly influenced by being in close contact with great musician so and so. Come to think of it... it is indeed hard to "entertain" mindsets that are just out there looking for the next "kick"...the next freak to hit the popular media...How can we sing and dance when in fact we are being told to get up and stand up and fight? A dilemma...This brings us again to the fact that when people sing certain lyrics, they find themselves facing all kinds of hassles..whereas the others who go the opposite way have all the doors opened for them. So it's all up to the individual today. Put winers and all their accessories and there is surely the chance that it will be found to be entertaining, and so, lead on to greater things..more money, exposure (for real) and the rest of the shiny tempting paraphernelia. On the contrary, you had better be Gentleman to have a clip denouncing BooBoosh and Pappa2 and still make it to the top spot....how these things happen will always be professional secret, but I wish more and more roots would get to know how to do it. Gospel music can also be entertaining so why not? Sometimes we think that we can change the world through music and it can be done but the change must be towards progress and not the kind we see slowly but surely taking over most aspects of our everyday life...under the pretext that if it sells it must be good. I really feel for kids growing up without proper supervision over their multimedia forays. Schoolkids are not generally allowed to be professional musicians so entertainment usually is geared towards adults. When we then think of the term "Adult Entertainment", something funny comes to mind...nuh?

Ari Ree

NEWS FROM THE LOCAL SCENE

Yes I, the season change to warmer, and now we are able to see the true nature of folks...sunny, smiling and generally upbeat and positive...nothing nicer than a cool Sunday relaxing somewhere in the shade in Yaam or other similar spots that seem to be slowly blooming every summer. Mostly it's the same sound boys but sometimes the management tend to bring in live acts...let's hope that they do so this year. "See mi Yah", released by Basic Channel and featuring lots of local artists is currently enjoying upscale publicity in the German and European Media.

Nuff Reggae Festivals all over Germany this year. In addition to the usual Summer Jam and Chiemsee, several other Fests have sprouted up regularly. One has to only check out the Reggae Festival Guide on the www and all the information is there.

Look out for the compliation CD "Fire Inside pt. II" to be released by an Indie label from Bonn this summer. Included is the song "Chalice to Blaze" by Ras Perez & the Reggae Ambassadubs.