Legacy (2013)

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I'm going to up the tempo and share a track I did in 2013 that is more uplifting than my last one. I wrote this track first and foremost as a drum & bass track though my initial goal was to create a theme around how reggae and ska music has inspired so much of the music we have now, especially urban music styles such as jungle music and then jungle evolving into drum & bass.

Dub-step (not the commercial wobble stuff. No, I mean true DUB inspired dub-step, the sub bass driven music which developed largely out of Bristol) - this type of dub-step would not even be around if it were not for Reggae music. A lot of breakbeat and house music has also been very much inspired by reggae and then there is all the acoustic music it has influenced over the years.

I was brought up on reggae and ska music, and even though I found my real passion to be drum & bass, I'll always love Jamaican music. One day I might do a post on the history of the relationship between Britain and Jamaica regarding the music and how much of it was imported to Britain back in the day.

Many Jamaican people came to Britain in the 1950s and 60s and bought much of their great culture too, including their brilliant music. Before the BBC would start playing reggae on the radio, as initially they wouldn't, much of the early reggae records produced in Jamaica were imported to Britain and then played on big sound systems such as the Coxones and JahShaka sound systems around the country (I think these sound system nights also influenced the rave and club culture later on) and then of course Bob Marley lived in London for a good while, all of which really helped to inspire, influence and create so much other music such as 2-tone music which was birthed in my hometown Coventry through the legendary bands, The Specials and The Selecter and also other bands elsewhere such as Bad Manners, Madness and The Beat.. and then many more down the line.

Jamaican music also profoundly influenced great bands such as The Jam, The Prodigy in the 90s and further back, The Clash. Then there's Northern Soul music, the now extremely rare 45 vinyl records and the dance halls are a whole entire story in itself!

Reggae and Jamaican music certainly had a huge role in the development of jungle and drum & bass and for me the track I did below was just a grateful nod and tip of the hat to all the legendary reggae music produced over the last 50+ years and all of the Innovative jungle and drum & bass produced over the last 25+ years. All of which of course is now worldwide.

I hope you enjoy and thanks for listening! The track artwork here was done for me by my friend Heliotrope at the time. I'm a Ford Capri nut too hehe ;)

With love,
Jon :)

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