Dub Collossus - Dr Strangedub (Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying & Dub The Bomb)

Dub and reggae may seem monotonous, with repetitive rhythms and trance-like grooves pulsating the music endlessly, but it is not about the music but in fact the lyrical content. The lyrics are about British colonialism and freedom from that suffering into independence and a sort of Afrocentric statement, and Rastafarianism also pits itself against Catholicism and mainstream religions. The strange repetitive rhythms lay bare the lyrics. Many of the musicians were self-taught, including singers, and there is this massive pool of talent in Jamaica where literally hundreds of artists call home, and in the case of Gregory Isaacs particularly, back catalogues of literally hundreds of songs on many studio albums.

Various Artists - Step Forward Youth: Roots Masters From The ''Punky Reggae Party''

Reggae is one of the biggest industries in Jamaica with a significant part of the country's GDP from reggae. Jamaica is a third world country, so for many, it is a profession to keep people out of crime and has a great sustainable value associated with it. It is a globally recognised movement, there is even a Grammy award recognising best reggae album of the year. Many of the heavyweights are firmly established figures in Jamaican culture, household names and speaking to someone from the West Indies, he knew all the big names when I quizzed him about it, and he even recommended me to get into the ''reggae revival'' acts like Chronixx, as he saw the legends as being the old school of reggae. Chronixx has established himself in the ''reggae revival'' movement, which is a veering away from raggamuffin and dancehall, and embracing the older styles coupled with the Rastafarian lyrical content. 

Various Artists - Put On Your Best Dress

Ska was the precursor to reggae. It was mento first, and then soldiers stationed in America used radios, tuning into Jazz and the Jamaicans picked up horns and added that to the mento and calypso style folk music to make ska. Then rock steady came along which was a lot more danceable. Toots & The Maytals first used the term reggae in their track ''Do The Reggay'' and the rest is history. I prefer to denote genres to their various sub-genres and refer to reggae as the overarching genre and diaspora of Jamaica, with the little sub-genres like mento and ska directly referred to because reggae is more than a genre of music, and when you collect reggae there is a lot to amass. I have over one hundred reggae CDs in my collection. There are many different artists with completely unique styles of singing and music.

Phillis Dillon - One Life To Live

In a male-dominated genre, female singers are a breath of fresh air. Phillis Dillon, alongside Marcia Griffiths, are queens of their craft, but the real highlight of female reggae singers has got to be Susan Cadogan's ''Hurt So Good'' recorded with Lee ''Scratch'' Perry would be in my opinion would be Perry's greatest ever track. Lee Perry had the magic to layer piano sounds, rather than guitar, onto a track and cover it with his Space Echo, which has been discussed before as a combination of delay and reverb. Perry's track incorporate ''riddims'' and his signature sound as found on the Congos' release Heart Of The Congos has got this primarily piano ''riddim'' and they use various sound effects and space echo to build this wall of sound. Perry is the Spector of reggae you could say.