Time for some hip hop infused reggae this next one comes to us from Manchester based <strong>J.Chambers</strong>, this starts off with a horn section that comes and goes throughout the track over a dubby bass, the signature piano chops of a reggae groove as well the foundation of the classic one drop groove. There is tape echo too which is part of the whole reggae groove, and I’m here for it!
This is a protest song – in a world where flags are being flown everywhere, J.Chambers fuels the fire by saying be the change you want to see in the world – I had to look up who that quote was originally attributed to – My thinking was that it was Mahatma Ghandi but it’s not. I could be entirely wrong but I reckon the first line is a reference to the injustices visited upon the Windrush Generation that’s come to light recently:
Still a chant down Babylon,
System say we’re vagabonds,
But do they know their history,
Miss me less its facts You chat upon.
The reference to placards being carried may be references to the protests being carried out by the far right as well as the Gaza protests in central London. This reminds me of when The Specials released Ghost Town back in the 80s and how it documented the UK at the time. This is not a surprise to me as reggae and hip hop have long done this, the word from the street – The reason why this resonated with me so much is because for Black History Month a colleague spoke about Dub Poetry and how that’s been a way for so many pioneers like Linton Kwesi Johnson, the late Benjamin Zaphaniah, and Jean “Binta” Breeze to be able to get their message across. It’s given me food for thought.
This is a collaboration between J.Chambers and Qyor an artist from Jamaica and this is from their forthcoming EP.
