Dancehall Reggae & Lover's Rock



It's about time we started the second list, a joint effort between dancehall and lover's rock. First off, let's define the two. Dancehall reggae gets its name simply from where reggae was played live by DJs in so-called sound systems in the late 70s and early 80s. Social and political changes in Jamaica saw the rise of a much more localised market for the new generation of reggae stars, as opposed to the internationally-oriented roots reggae of yesteryear, as well as lyrics changing their focus to violence, dancing and sexuality. Noticeably, the rhythms tended to give off a more lively, pumping sort of vibe, as opposed to the mostly groove-oriented rhythms of roots, giving the reggae of DJs like Yellowman, General Echo and Eek a Mouse a new edge to it.

Lover's rock started off a few years earlier, boasting roots in the earliest reggae of the 60s. It basically serves as a counter-genre to the politically-aware and socially conscious roots and (to an extent) dancehall reggae with its own much more romantic lyrics, as peddled most successfully by artists like Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown and Freddie McGregor.

What links it with dancehall is that, like dancehall, its rhythms evolved from the bare backbone of the groove-based roots reggae vibe. In lover's rock's case this comes mainly from the combination of the smooth sounds of Chicago and Philadelphia soul with roots rhythms. Both are the forms of reggae which boomed after roots went bust. Plus it's a lot less complicated to do things this way too.

So, I'll just talk about a couple of albums in a moment or two...