Dance Gets Nice Again: Lord Tippatone Hifi with Selector Jah Wise in Brooklyn 11/20/09

Nov 27, 2009 Features, Reviews

Words and Photos by Quoc Pham

As I am writing this post over thanksgiving, I realize that we should be thankful for all the artists, musicians and individuals who helped shape our musical culture and affected many of us in a personal way. With the passing of Alton Ellis and Michael Jackson just to name a few, this year has been especially tough  and it reminds us why we should appreciate those who remain as living legacies of musical eras which must not be forgotten. Last Friday, I was fortunate to attend a dancehall party in Brooklyn called “Dance Gets Nice Again”.  The dance featured legendary selector Jah Wise from Tippatone Hifi, one of the most important sound system of the early reggae era. Held in a small venue called the Culture Barn – essentially someone’s garage – the party had an intimate feel with an eclectic audience of old timers alongside hip kids vibing to the sound of pure foundation reggae music.

The late 60’s were undoubtedly one of the most prolific period in modern Jamaican history. The blooming of the local recording industry and a string of international successes in the charts set the stage for Reggae to become a bonafide world class music. During this transition period, sound systems were naturally at the center of the action. As the dominance of the previous decade’s two giants – Coxsone’s Downbeat and Duke Reid’s Trojan – started to fade, a new generation of sound systems arose and  competed fiercely for the island’s sonic supremacy. Among these, Lord Tippatone Hifi emerged as one of the top two sounds, rivaled only by King Tubby’s Hometown Hifi. With Jah Wise at the control and Big Youth on the mic, Tippatone ruled the dances from its home turf of  Spanish Town to the island’s countryside where the sound would regularly travel.

Well into his fifties and with a deep musical knowledge that emanates from his enigmatic personna, Jah wise is the quintessential sound system man.  His record collection is legendary and he allegedly owns the world’s two most exclusive specials:  Bob Marley’s only known recorded dubplates in praise to  a sound system. Jah Wise first joined the Tippatone crew as the “boxboy” – the kid transporting speakers and equipment – before quickly becoming the sound’s top selector and eventually its ambassador. Besides his musical career, Jah Wise is also a renowned artist whose artwork  can be seen gracing many landmarks including the facade of  Lee Perry’s infamous Black Ark studio. He also appears painting Horsemouth’s motorbike in the 1978 feature film “Rockers”.

That night,  I had the opportunity to meet an individual  who has had a profound influence on an entire musical culture.  It was a humbling experience and this is what I’m thankful for this year.

If you recently had a similar experience worth to be thankful for, please share in the comment section.

Tags: Brookyln, Dancehall, Events, Quoc Pham, Reggae, Sound system, Tipppatone

Interview with Planet Rump at Booty Crisis, 11/14/09 – Brooklyn

Nov 19, 2009 Interview, Reviews

Interview and words by Linh Truong, Photos by Quoc Pham

Before the co-sponsored Sound Liberation Front event Booty Crisis at Public Assembly last Saturday, I got a chance to talk backstage with Planet Rump – the monthly party’s founders and resident booty shaker – about the Casio, breaking boxes (the metaphorical kind), and just getting down with your funky ass self.

SLF: How did Planet Rump come about?

Nasty Ness: We landed here on Earth.
Miss Strawberry: Crashed our spaceship.
DJ Tantric: It was an accident.
M: We’re from the Planet Rump, and we were going on a funky space odyssey, and then we ended up here. We were, like, what are we gonna do, we really gotta get back to Rump – it’s like the funkiest planet in the universe.
D: Then we saw there was a need for us.
M: We saw a lot of funky people, a lot more lame people, so we decided to bring the funk of the universe, channel it through our bodies…
N: Earth isn’t ready.
D: And it’s not about materialism, it’s not about something you need to have to bring the funk. It’s about harnessing the funk within you. You could be wearing some Tevas, you could be wearing some Keds, you could be wearing some Fruit of the Loom. It doesn’t matter because anyone can get funky with anything you want, and that’s how our music works.

SLF: Why Brooklyn?

N: Because this is where the trends begin.
M: And Brooklyn needs it the most. We got a lot of shoegazers here, a lot of too-cool-for-schoolers.
N: A lot of conformists.
D: A lot of people who just want to buy something to make them cool, but they don’t want to be cool on the inside.
M: But we know that this is the media platform of the world, and we just want to be at the center of it all. Get the message out there that love, peace, and funk are the only things you need.

SLF: Why use the Casio as your main instrument?

D: The Casio embodies pretty much the principle of you don’t need anything to be funky.
N: Keep it simple.
D: We play little baby toys from thirty years ago, and we can blow people’s minds away harder than someone with the most updated products of blah, blah, blah production. I mean, you don’t need to buy something to be funky.
N: You can be yourself.
D: And we’ve done a lot with those little toys.
M: That shit BOOMS!
(laughter)
D: And we work with some sound generation tools that don’t actually play notes. Like, we don’t even need notes. We don’t even need a scale or melody or whatever. Yeah, we do that a little bit, but creating bass tones generated out of some sort of nonsense…we’re playing in between the notes, and the sounds are cool. That’s what works with us.

SLF: How do you get the ideas behind your songs? What’s the creative process?

N: We take our real-life experiences from going out and being ourselves every day and just enjoying life. We take real-life scenarios, and we make it something tangible.
D: We don’t really stick to any genre or anything. We’re just playing music. And we can embody anything about anything by just playing music. You don’t have to pigeonhole yourself into a certain box. We try to play across all boundaries, and some of our songs embody a lot of different elements of other types of music.
N: Like, why be negative? Why not just make something positive out of everything? Just put it on display and build your self-esteem.

SLF: Is that the whole idea behind Booty Crisis?

N: Hell yeah!
M: Definitely.
D: Booty Crisis is, like, the boundless booty party where you can have anything, and we’re sort of exposing people to things that they were sleepin’ on. Whether it’s Chico Mann or Hiro Tha Jap or DJ A-Ko from upstate New York. There’s a bunch of people out there right now dancing to a DJ from upstate New York, and they don’t know it.

Tayisha Busay

SLF: What’s the process of choosing the acts in the lineup?

N: If we don’t like them, then they don’t play.
D: It’s group knowledge, but we’re all specialists in different ways. So, we get to combine our strengths – sort of like a big net – and bring in people. If we can agree on it, see what the benefit is, and how we can draw people together with our own scene, then that’s what we do.
N: And that’s the most important thing.
M: It’s gotta be fun. It’s gotta be positive. It’s gotta be boomin’. It’s gotta be danceable. Electronic is what’s hot right now, and we love that.
D: Enough with the diva entitlement thing. We just bring people who wanna bring the funk.
N: If I can’t rock out to it, then I’m not gonna book ‘em. That’s it.

SLF: What’s the act tonight that you’re the most excited for?

Planet Rump: (in unison) All of them!
M: They’re all amazing.
N: I’ve been to all of their parties, and they all blew my mind.
D: And if we’re lucky, they’re all gonna be friends at the end of the night. We got Latin- Cuban-Afrobeat music. We got Japanese dance music. We got Israeli, Brooklyn-based dance music. We got us. And everyone’s gonna love each other.

Chico Mann

SLF: So, it’s gonna be one big group hug afterwards?

N: Of course, it’s already one big group hug. Everyone here is a friend. There are no enemies here. It’s all love.

SLF: What are your plans for Planet Rump in the future?

N: Planet Rump is more than just a group – we’re an entity.
D: It’s a movement. So, we’re booking acts and getting momentum with that. We’re cutting an album right now. One of our guests Chico Mann is a good sounding board because he doesn’t live in anyone’s world or anyone’s box. He’s a good person to talk about a lot of things like that. We’re gonna keep moving in a different direction. Use some different elements of different music, and see where it takes us.
N: As long as we keep having fun.
D: Nothing less than sexy.
N: If we’re not having fun, how could anyone watching us be having fun?

Tags: Afrobeat, Booty Crisis, brooklyn, Chico Mann, Concert Review, Interview, Linh Truong, Planet Rump, Public Assembly, Quoc Pham, Williamsburg

Reeewind: A Journey into Sound System Culture, 10/03/09 – New York

Oct 12, 2009 Features, Reviews

Story and Photos by Quoc Pham

A show at the Amazura is like an expedition into another musical world, far from the spotlights of mainstream media. This time, I was able to rally a crew of hardcore sound system fans despite my usual inability to convince any of my friends to take the trip deep into Queens and shell out fifty bucks for events that usually start after most venues’ last call. With its smoky and stuffy atmosphere, deafening sound system and overbearing intensity, a major event at the Amazura literally requires mental and physical preparation.

Irish and Chin have been notorious for staging mega productions worldwide, the most legendary being their prestigious world clash series held in New York, London, Jamaica and Antigua. With “Reewind: past meets the present”, their concept was to combine a vintage rub a dub show headlined by the legendary King Sturgav Hifi with the star power of popular contemporary artists such as Capleton, Luciano and Beenie Man. The bill also advertised U-Roy, Brigadier Jerry, Charlie Chaplin, General Trees (all of whom were affiliated with the sound in its heyday) and Mighty Crown Sound who was entrusted with the task of warming up the audience. With such a stellar lineup, this was undoubtedly the most anticipated dancehall event of the year and it was clear that it was going to be a memorable night.

In Jamaica, sound systems were more than just entertainment, they were literally community institutions at the center of local economy and popular culture. Ever since the early Ska days, they have been the driving force behind the birth and evolution of the Jamaican recording industry and played a crucial role in developing artists from local poor communities. With the explosion of Dancehall in the wake of Bob Marley’s Death in 1981, a new generation of sound systems spearheaded by the likes of Stone Love, Killamanjaro, and King Jammy’s took center stage and dominated the Jamaican music industry over the next two decades.

During the  Dancehall era, sound system performances known as  “Rub A Dub” dances were widely popular. These dances  typically featured multiple deejays (the Jamaican equivalent of MCs in hip hop culture) consecutively showing off their lyrical skills in an attempt to seek out respect and recognition from the often unforgiving crowd.  Spontaneous and competitive by nature,  they were good indicators of raw talent and became the location of choice for scouting and developing new artists. Being a feature deejay on one of the island’s major sound systems was a sure path for popular success and an eventual recording career. To this day, most well known recording artists begin their career by earning respect and proving themselves  in the “Zinc fence jungle”.

King Sturgav Sound System, also known as Sturgav Hifi was the brainchild of the illustrious deejay U-Roy. Also known as “the originator”, he is widely credited for pioneering and popularizing “toasting”, a vocal style which consists of jive talking and rapping over popular records during sound system dances. After a stint deejaying on Duke Reid’s Trojan Sound in the late 60s, he gained notoriety later on King Tubby’s Hometown Hifi- Tubby’s sonic experimentation and dub aesthetics proving the perfect support for the development of his unique vocal style. By transforming the art of animating a sound system dance into a musical form in its own right, U-Roy laid the foundation for an entire new generation of artists and became a major influence on the early rap scene (Disco/Electro/Break Beat) and the later American hip-hop movement. When he created Sturgav sound, it became defacto one of the top deejay academies on the island.

With so much history in perspective, I had very high expectations for this event. When we arrived at the Amazura, the place was already packed which was a pleasant surprise given the relatively early time (by Jamaican Standard). The night started with the incomparable Mighty Crown from Yokohama, Japan. The “Mad Japanese” definitely have a knack for captivating a crowd with their wicked selection, unique charisma and flawless execution. It is not hard to understand why they are considered one of the best sound systems in the world today, and since they were just the opener it was an indicator of the high caliber of the event.

In front of an enthusiastic crowd, King sturgav then took the stage. For the next three hours, the audience witnessed an overwhelming array of artists consecutively blessing the mic. Beenie man announced himself as the host for the night, controlling the mic and interacting with the audience while General Trees kept patrons smiling with his comical interjections and entertaining performance.

Since I am used to seeing Capleton perform with a live band , I was curious to see how his style would translate in a sound system format. Capleton has an aura few other artists carry. I caught his expression while he was standing backstage before his performance, staring at the crowd in deep concentration. Minutes later, he brought the entire place down with renditions of his anthems Jah Jah City, Who Dem, That Day Will Come and countless others over foundation riddims. Without surprises, the prophet did not fail to mesmerize the crowd with his notorious intensity and charisma.

To my surprise, I learned that U-Roy, Luciano and Charlie Chaplin were not going to be present due to visa issues.  There was a lot of disappointment in the crowd. The last part of the event still featured standout performances by Brigadier Jerry and Sugar Minott, who came as a surprise guest. Both artists unleashed a series of forwards when performing their respective trademark hits.

Despite the absence of a few key performers, it was still a night of historic proportions and above all a night of great entertainment by some of the industry’s most prominent figures. It was all about class and respect between artists in honor of sound system culture and history.  The event as a whole left the crowd ecstatic and it was nice to see that it was relevant to a younger audience as well. I can only hope to see more of this type of productions in the future. In the meantime, I will be going back to listening to bootleg rub a dub tapes on my iPod, longing for my next journey into sound system culture.

Tags: Amazura, Beenie Man, Capleton, Dancehall, Irish and Chin, Queens, Quoc Pham, Reggae, Sound system, Soundclash, U Roy