Which Reggae Artiste Do I Want to See on Reggaesteem? Cadenza, The Skints, Bedouin Soundclash. With passing reference to Tinariwen of the Tuareg

As always, I couldn't confine myself to just one reggae artiste. I want a tribe. After extensive searching and Sunday morning listening, I've come up with my top three reggae artistes for today.

I love Sunday mornings. Along with Friday evenings, they rate as one of my favourite times of the week. Sunday is about relaxing, reviving, enjoying being alive and I've chosen tracks that reflect just that. Today we have rain here in the UK after a brilliant run of late summer days. Time to muse.

Cadenza

Source I don't know these particular maisonettes. They could be White City estate in Hammersmith, west London.

Where to start with this guy? He's done so many interesting things and collaborated with so many reggae artistes from Stylo G and Busy Signal through to Sean Paul. I love this track with Jakwob though:

"I heard some of James' (Jakwob) new solo stuff and also the beats he was doing for Simz and it was all based around these really broken-beat, moody textures. I had some sketches on a similar tip so I shot him a text and we set up a day to work on some ideas." ... An intensely rhythmic riddim ... hypnotic sample sections (a Damian Marley vocal lifted from 2010's "As We Enter") breathe life into the instrumental ... percussive breaks add further texture. Source: Complex

Me, I thought it was inventive, engaging, like jazz, mixing many ideas. I'm not the only one - read the comments along the bottom of the recording.

Queens to Brixton, is that New York to London? The next two are heavily London influenced, although People could easily apply to young people in the States and the world over. Jorja Smith and Dre Island are two more reggae artistes we might entice to Reggaesteem:

People ft Jorja Smith, Dre Island, 2016

My final choice for Cadenza is Foundation - the opening scene set in a very typical London local shop, this is catchy with excellent graphics. I did wonder if the lyric had come through a reggae song generator - it seems to be making sure that every word associated with reggae gets in there. See what you think:

Foundation ft. Stylo G, Busy Signal, 2015

The Skints

My, this is a busy band. The Skints mix reggae, ska, dub, punk rock, dancehall, soul, and hip hop, touring extensively across the UK, Europe and the United States. I've picked just two songs that I really like, because London.

Learning to Swim, The Skints, 2019. I believe this is from their latest album Swimming Lessons which The Skints have been touring in Europe this year.

Opening with a neat lovers rock jam, the laid-back sound is suddenly switched up for some Bad Brains style punk thrash. Source: Clash Music

The song is about loss and learning to cope with grief. Inspired by the loss of her sister and the increasing number of years that the singer, Marcia Richards, has been without her, the innocent lovers rock reflects her childhood memories with the chorus of pop and punk rock reflecting her sister's era. As Marcia says, it's a song that "musically flips through time and space." Source

*This Town* The Skints ft Tippa Irie, Horseman, 2015 *"London city I was born in, you know I love this town"*. Melodic mixing up of musical genres. Edit: Sorry, this video seems to be unavailable on here, click through and you can see it on YouTube.

Bedouin Soundclash

My last reggae artiste, Bedouin Soundclash, is from Toronto, Canada. I came across them through The Skints, as they have toured a lot together. I was intrigued by the Bedouin reference and wondered if there was a connection with Tinariwen and the Tuaregs. There wasn't, but I came across this entertaining video:

St Andrews Bedouin Soundclash, 2007 In the comments: "that may be the most low-key bar fight I've ever seen staged [SO CANADIAN!!] "

Of all the featured tracks, Queens to Brixton is my favourite, but all the featured reggae artistes illustrate crossovers and mix-ups and how the music and ideas are constantly evolving. This is why I would like to see them on Reggaesteem.

What can we do to get them here?

• The Reggaesteem team are already working hard on making sure all the technical side works well so reggae artistes have a great experience here.
• The trending page is getting better every day, we need to keep a flow of interesting, diverse posts reflecting many different aspects of reggaesteem and interests in reggae culture. Tag well and use SEO techniques.
• Up the interaction and comments on posts, showing a lively engaged community that loves reggae and can't stop talking about it.

Tinariwen

In the post, I talk about Tinariwen. This is their story of struggle and rebellion and how poems and stories are used to convey the Tuareg's history, to provide comfort and succour and to bring people together to build their future. Their music has a strong blues influence, I love the sound of many voices singing, the drumming and percussion.

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