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LimelightMagazine
©Copyright 2002-2009 by "Limelight Magazine.org"· All Rights reserved
Recording technology and its advances enabled Caribbeans to start developing a domestic music industry. The end of WW11 saw the first West Indians starting to arrive in Britain to join the labour force in the reconstruction of the country after the devastating bombing it had received in WW11. Those West Indians that answered the call to come and rebuild Britain brought with them the sort of records they enjoyed. Not just the traditional Calypso which was a form of Jamaican rhythm ‘n’ blues, influenced by black American music charts. This music was not available in Britain and was therefore played only by blacks in exclusive clubs they formed, or private parties, also almost exclusively West Indians. While Caribbean music spread quickly through the underground scene in Britain the cross over to the main stream was considered inevitable. Two events accelerated the process beyond expectation of the time. In firstly Trinidadian director, Horace Ove’s, film Reggae (1971) which charted the progress and popularity of Jamaican music in Britain in the early 1960’s. Even at this stage while black music could be heard coming out of homes, private clubs and West Indian community centres throughout the country, it remained absent from the airwaves, was never played on popular radio shows or appeared in any music charts. The arrival of international star Bob Marley caused a dramatic change to the picture when his success sparked a black music industry in Britain based on Reggae. His connection with the Rastafarian movement, the language, lyrics, authenticity and depth inspired and influenced a whole generation of young blacks brought up in Britain and who were seeking out their Caribbean roots. The music became an integral part of the means used to reflect the volatile issues of the times and a way of raising consciousness. The 1980’s saw the emergence of so called ‘black pop’, or new R&B, which later morphed into Rap, a more overt and aggressive form of music and lyrics promoting black consciousness, while exposing social, economic and political oppression. In this sense black music had continued as it had started from the plantation to the ghetto and then to mainstream, as a means of promoting black consciousness, awareness and raising moral. A protest that never was or is to this day silent
The Rise of Reggae