WAH GWAN, <<First Name>>! It's been a while. Too long, really. 09 has truly been a labor of love (and hate lol). This playlist has been in the works since—I kid you not—September 2021. Getting 09 out to you meant being incredibly patient with myself - working on it whenever I was in a decent headspace and stepping away from it whenever tracks and/or their order started sounding "all wrong". It's finally ready., I can't wait for you to hear it!
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If you'd like to support this project, you're welcome to buy me a coffee for the hours of research/fact-checking these take (or to help me pay for these streaming services and Mailchimp). 😁
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A departure from the "brand new music" rule of previous playlists, this compilation was inspired by the passings of the legendary Lee "Scratch" Perry (Aug '21), Robbie Shakespeare (of Sly & Robbie; Dec '21), Bunny Wailer (Mar '21) and U-Roy (Feb '21), and features music spanning the last 50 years. A homage to Dub, Lover's Rock, Reggae - their past and presence in music today.
Questions to try to capture some of the contributions of these pioneers: How far would Bob Marley and The Wailers have gotten without Scratch's production? What would Reggae even sound like without Robbie's trendsetting bass playing? Would we still have had Dubstep, Drum & Bass, or Jungle without them?
El Michaels Affair x Liam Bailey's "Ugly Truths" and Green Lion Crews' "Green Brain" may be some of the last tracks Scratch ever lent his voice to. I say "might" because, given the sheer number of 2021 releases he was featured on, I wouldn't be surprised to find out Scratch was making art up until the day he left our world. His production, on the other hand, can be heard on classics like Junior Murvin's "Police & Thieves" as well as Max Romeo x The Upsetters' "One Step Forward" and "Chase The Devil".
Sly & Robbie's Lovers Rock production can be heard on "Made To Fall In Love" (sung by Bitty McClean) and "Rain from the Sky" (sung by John Holt and The Wailers), while their Dub prowess shines on U-Roy and the Might Diamond's "Full Time" and on "Dub Glory" (where you really get to bask in Robbie's bass skills).
Scattered amongst the stars of this playlist are tracks by newer artists - tracks in which the influence of our aforementioned Reggae legends is unmistakable. Some of my faves of these are Tiggs Da Author's "Zulu Gang" 🇹🇿 🇬🇧, SHY FX x Liam Bailey's "Come Around Slowly" 🇬🇧, Samory I's "Love And Mercy" 🇯🇲, and Alewya's "Ethiopia" 🇪🇹 🇸🇩 🇪🇬 🇬🇧.
Closing out this playlist is a foretelling collab between Sly & Robbie and Scratch (from the project "The Final Battle" with Roots Radics). On "Full Moon, Plant a Tree", Scratch can be heard rhyming, "Meet me at Heaven's gate. Don't be late." #goatmouth
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(Left to right: Robbie Shakespeare by Tim Duncan, Lee "Scratch" Perry by Jay Trachtenberg, U-Roy by Unknown, Bunny Wailer from Hulton Archive/Getty Images.)
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- See Scratch's process during the golden age of Studio Black Ark in a 5 min snippet from the documentary "Roots Rock Reggae".
- Watch Rolling Stone's last visit with Scratch in Negril, Jamaica - mere weeks before his passing.
- Watch a live in-studio set by the original Wailers: Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, and Bob Marley.
- See Robbie Shakespeare's answer the question "What is Reggae?" during a live Sly & Robbie performance on French TV.
- Watch Alewya perform "Ethiopia" for COLORS.
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