DJ Nicky Dread's road to reggae

Nicky Dread has been hosting the reggae radio show The Crooked Beat since 1979 on CFRU-FM. During the week of celebrations of Jamaica 50, he reflects on his own experiences with the music of Jamaica.

“Your time has come when you can have your fun, you’re independent now!”
- Derrick Morgan, “Forward March”

Freedom, and great music

When these words were heard in 1962, joy filled the hearts of most Jamaicans – freedom from colonial rule had arrived. Jamaica was independent. But the reality of running their own affairs was yet to sink in.

Regardless of the hardships to come, what great musical fun Jamaica has had in the past 50 years – from mento to ska and rock steady, to the many forms of reggae, to dub and dancehall. Jamaica’s music has taken the world by storm with its unique sounds and styles.

A DJ's childhood in Jamaican music

I got interested in Jamaican music growing up in a part of Caribbean society that looked down on reggae and rastas. (I was born in England, grew up in Guyana and now live in Canada.) The sound of the music had me hooked. This music that defied the establishment taught me that you don’t have to have dreadlocks to be a dread. It is the social content in reggae that is a huge attraction to me.

My full immersion began in England in 1975, where immigrant Jamaicans were already influencing British music. That period was one of the most inventive and prolific in reggae.

Riddim, the building block

A perennial feature of any quality Jamaican recording studio is the audition lineups, youths from ghettos and the hills seeking their big break. Lack of formal training doesn’t hinder those with the dream of becoming a recording artist. Fortunately, the phenomenon of the "riddim" ("rhythm" in standard English) lets the producer use the same instrumental to record many vocalists, until the next new riddim breaks through.

Renowned musician Leroy Sibbles laments the lack of copyright law in the days when he created many perenially favourite "riddims," like “Full Up.” Sibbles sings “I didn’t know one riddim could a las’ so long.” Usually the producers saw the majority of financial benefit of sales, and the musicians were only paid for their initial performance on the track.

From vinyl to digital

As Nicky Dread, I have been doing a community radio show since 1979. Finding enough music for a radio show requires effort but the wellspring of talent that's out there has brought me a fortune in good music. In the pre-digital days, costs of distributing vinyl limited access to Jamaican releases. When artists pressed small quantities, only a handful made it to stores like (the now defunct) Jimpy’s in Toronto. I still ended up with a wall full of vinyl. To aid Canadian radio DJs and myself in the struggle to stay up to date, I started a trade sheet in the 1980s.

The internet has greatly improved access to new music and rare recordings. Hard-to-find music that would later grab fans' attention has been lovingly digitized and distributed to communities of musical ambassadors. My digital collection now totals 30,000!

The loudest island in the world

As an ambassador of Jamaica’s music, Bob Marley stands tall around the world. Looking beyond Marley, it is true that the loudest island in the world has produced more music per capita than any other. The 50 years of independence anniversary’s musical celebration includes numerous celebratory songs lauding progress, and the country’s international status.

Reggae 'round the world

As being a judge for the reggae record of the year for Canada's Juno Awards has shown me, Jamaica’s musical exports are now a solid part of Canada’s music scape. (In 2012 there were 30 submissions in the reggae category.) Jamaica’s music is played and recorded in many far-flung countries. In celebration of the 2010 Soccer World Cup, I created a radio show featuring reggae from 31 of the 32 competitors. Only the Pyongyang Dub Orchestra was missing. (Please find me some North Korean reggae!) And over the past five decades, we’ve had four waves of ska and are currently experiencing a rock steady revival. Happy 50th, Jamaica!