Jamaican sound system

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Music of Jamaica

Kumina - Nyabinghi- Mento - Ska - Rocksteady - Reggae - Sound systems - Lovers rock - Dub - Dancehall - Dub poetry - Toasting - Raggamuffin - Roots reggae
Anglophone Caribbean music
Anguilla - Antigua and Barbuda - Bahamas - Barbados - Bermuda - Caymans - Grenada - Jamaica - Montserrat - St. Kitts and Nevis - St. Vincent and the Grenadines - Trinidad and Tobago - Turks and Caicos - Virgin Islands
Sound samples
Other Caribbean music
Aruba and the Dutch Antilles - Cuba - Dominica - Dominican Republic - Haiti - Hawaii - Martinique and Guadeloupe - Puerto Rico - St. Lucia - United States - United Kingdom

In Jamaica, a Sound System is a popular type of nomadic outdoor concert/party. The sound system scene is generally regarded as an important part of Jamaican cultural history and as being responsible for the rise of modern Jamaican musical styles such as ska and dub.

Contents

The sound system concept first became popular in the 1950's, in the ghettos of Kingston. DJs would load up a truck with a generator, turntables, and huge speakers and set up street parties. In the beginning, the DJs played American R&B music, but as time progressed and more local music was created, the sound migrated to a local flavor.

The sound systems were big business, and represented one of the few sure ways to make money in the unstable economy of the area. The promoter (the DJ) would make his profit by charging a minimal admission, and selling food and alcohol. Competition between these sound systems was fierce, and eventually two DJs emerged as the stars of the scene: Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd, and Duke Reid. It was not uncommon for thousands of people to be in attendance.

The popularity of a sound system was mainly contingent on one thing: having new music. In order to circumvent the release cycle of the American record labels, the two sound system superstars turned to record production. Initially, they produced only singles for their own sound systems, known as "Exclusives" or Dubplates - a limited run of one copy per song.

What began as an attempt to copy the American R&B sound using local musicians became Jamaica's first unique music: Ska. As this new musical form became more popular, both Dodd and Reid began to move more seriously into music production. Coxsone Dodd's production studio became the famous Studio One, while Duke Reid founded the famous Treasure Isle.

This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. (help, get involved!)
This article has been tagged since December 2006.

Cassim Swatch Venus Coppershot Travellers Adonai Aaska Money Cologne Metromedia Emperor Sound Wave Sound Trooper Mello Construction Golden Touch brodda hype

  • Sir Coxsone Outernational
  • Saxon
  • David Rodigan
  • Unity
  • Qualitex
  • Immortal
  • Infinity
  • Iration Steppas
  • High Pressure
  • Symbiosis
  • Jah Shaka
  • Foundation Sound
  • Channel One
  • King Earthquake
  • Jah Youth
  • Freedom Masses
  • Aba-Shanti-I
  • Jah Voice
  • Operation Sound System
  • Jah Tubbys
  • RDK Hifi
  • Rebel Lion Sound System
  • Toxic Sound System
  • Axis Sound System
  • Gladdy wax
  • Jah Baron
  • Jungleman
  • Megatone
  • Bubblers Hi Quality
  • Wassifa
  • V.Rocket
  • Killaman Taurus
  • Jah Observer
  • Mighty Tabot
  • Roots Ting

  • Fahari Sound High Powa
  • Stereo One (Zimbabwe)
  • Admiral & Jah Seed (South Africa)
  • Silver Stone (Zimbabwe)
  • African Exodus Batanai (Zimbabwe)
  • Small Axe (Zimbabwe)
  • Sweet Ebony (Zimbabwe)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../j/a/m/Jamaican_sound_system.html"
Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.