When he released “Street Tuff” with Double Trouble (Michael Menson, Karl ‘Tuff Enuff’ Brown and Leigh Guest) in 1989, it was the first most people had heard of the Rebel MC. Truth is, he’d formed Double Trouble way back in the early 80s and Street Tuff was just the furthest reaching public display of his talent. Although frowned upon as a sell-out by the Hip Hop community, the cut has since been heralded as “the birth of UK Grime” by Dizzee Rascal amongst others. So, what has that got to do with Congo Natty? Well, everything. For those who don’t know (and I hope it’s just a handful), Rebel MC aka Michael West went on to record as Conquering Lion, Blackstar, Tribe Of Issachar, X Project, Ras Project and of course, Congo Natty. What is incredible is that since we saw him bounce on to the TOTP stage armed with fashion dreads, a backing track on DAT and his Double Trouble entourage playing dummy instruments, Micheal West has consistently released quality underground music with more than just money in mind.

Check ‘Black Meaning Good’(1991), a watershed release for the Rebel as his style evolved and his lightweight raps were replaced by conscious flows, Reggae, Techno and the emerging sound of Jungle. Guest appearances came from Barrington Levy, Dennis Brown and Tenor Fly….heavyweight business! Now the UK’s underground were on-side, and comparisons to the Ragga Twins (fellow Tottenham dwellers) and Shut Up & Dance were rife, the ‘Word Sound and Power’ (1992) collection cemented Rebel’s place in the Reggae tinged corner of the UK’s bubbling dance scene. Now a manifesting Rastafarian, West set up the Tribal Bass label in 1992 and it was this which gradually mutated to X-Project and finally into the Congo Natty imprint all old-school Junglists know and love.

So, almost 20 years on, and having recorded under an array of monikers, Congo Natty continues to roll out raw breaks, deadly deep subs and vocal performances from dancehall legends like Tenor Fly and Daddy Freddy to expectant audiences the world over. Now a fully fledged rasta living between the UK and Ethiopia, the conscious content and scathing attacks on our unbalanced sytems are stronger than ever. Even better, to add a fresh twist, the Congo Natty outfit now counts a full live band amongst its ranks. As somebody who recieved early musical tutilage from the Demon Boyz, London Posse, Shut Up and Dance and the Rebel MC (I think ‘Just Keep Rockin’ and ‘Street Tuff’ were among the first singles I ever bought alongside Public Enemy’s ‘Rebel Without a Pause’), I have to give my full respect to him for keeping it moving so strongly over almost two decades.

And the punchline, Heads High are in the zone with Congo Natty this Saturday 19th July. He’ll be accompanied by Connie Bell, Lady MC (Kool FM) and a full live band. Myself and Darren Judge will be rolling out selections spanning reggae, hip-hop and perhaps a few electronic, bass movements. It’s one to make time for….

This Friday 11th June, fans of real black music are going to feel nice. The OKRA project has teamed up with Adesose Wallace’s Ibile and Dalston’s Passing Clouds venue to bring the people a night of tone, taste and texture spanning Africa, the Caribbean and South America.

Representing Africa, 11-strong outfit Ibile hit the stage with a serious blend of Afrobeat, Highlife and raw West African drums. For better or worse, there has been an exponential rise in the number of Afrobeat/Afro-Funk/Highlife bands in the capital over the last few years but be warned, Ibile is the real deal. If you read the excerpt from our interview with him, you’ll know that Adesose Wallace is as authentic as they come. He’s played with Geraldo Pino, the James Brown of Afro-funk, and the inspiration for Fela Kuti to transform his Hi-Life Jazz sound into Afrobeat. Ade has also worked with Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba and a host of other African music legends and to this day, teaches West African rhythm and song to students countrywide – basically, he’s real.

Representing the Caribbean, OKRA presents Ras Happa and the Harambe Drummers throwing down a live set of pounding Jamaican roots drums and dance. Long before reggae music warmed its first amplifier and rumbled it’s first speaker cone, the island of Jamaica danced to the beat of Nyabinghi, Kumina and Revival drums. Rhythms and dances which are so powerful, they still emerge in the beats and sequenced movements of the freshest bashment dancehalls. Unfortunately, the dancehall didn’t assimilate the spirit of the culture with quite the same vigour…..that’s where we come in. To compliment proceedings Duke Etienne and Suga Kan’n keep it raw, roots and occasionally, savage with a DJ selection linking the past with the buzz of the afro-future.

Representing South America, Otto Nascarella takes a pause from the rootical, tropical funk of his Saravah Soul project to throw down a scorching selection infused with his Brazillian roots.

The flyer is here. We hope you can join us…

Phonica are taking it there! Fresh from our collaboration with the One-Handed family last week (many thanks to all who graced the space), we’ve landed a last-minute instore with Stones Throw’s Aloe Blacc who’s hit the UK to spread some love.

Although the confirmation was last-minute, I’ve managed to out-slack everyone by leaving it till four hours before the event to drop this post. Hopefully, the RSS junkies amongst you will get it in time & i’ll see you down there….

Proceedings begin @ 6pm. Phonica Records 51 Poland Street Soho W1F 7LZ. More details here.

For those who don’t know, here’s Aloe doing what he does:

Conceived in Cuba, continued in London. Defined by intricately woven threads of Rumba, Bengali folk, Jazz and Afrobeat, Lokkhi Terra’s ‘No Visa Required’ album effortlessly traverses continents skillfully avoiding immigration control.

Bandleader Kishon Khan and his troupe have just returned from a huge Asian tour and are all set to promote their debut album offering here in the UK. On Thursday 27th May they land in E1 for a full live show featuring the Dele Sosimi Quartet and Heads High DJs Duke Etienne & Cal Jader on the mix. Should be a heavy one! More info here.

No matter where on the spectrum you lay your musical hat, chances are the name Nneka means something to you.

Since the release of her 2007 debut ‘Victim Of Truth’, Nneka’s songs of freedom have amassed a sizable global following.  Her own biography speaks the truth when it says this popularity has less to do with marketing budgets and a whole lot more to do with the content and delivery of her art. Although ‘Victim Of Truth’ was slept on by many, her sophomore offering ‘No Longer At Ease’ (which joins the Root’s “Things Fall Apart” as another LP title garnered from the mighty Chinua Achebe) refused to let us continue in our slumber with its tough-yet-soulful collection of treatises on the political and humanitarian crises we face in our times – not least in mother Africa.To date she’s shared stages with the Roots, Mos Def, Femi Kuti and Bilal and is now all set to hit the road with Damien Marley and Nas for their Distant Relatives album tour. Basically, this woman is not joking…

To cut a long, but pretty interesting story short, we’ve been given the opportunity to give away two pairs of free tickets to her London show at the Scala on Weds 28th April. Free entry to what is bound to be one of the capital’s hottest live shows this year goes to the two lucky people who can answer the following question:

What is the name of the single which Nneka released at the end of March?

The two winners will be picked at random from the list of entries with the correct answer. Good Luck!

EMAIL US YOUR ANSWERS HERE and see below for details of the show, an interview with the lady herself and a Lauren Hill inspired unplugged studio special.

When Sound Iration’s ‘Seventh Seal’ 12” rumbled onto the streets back in 1988, it heralded a fresh chapter in reggae music’s evolution. Haunting melodica lines and scattered percussion referenced the ‘golden-era’ of late 70s roots music, but the exchange of a live drum and bass section with pounding digital drums and the minor key melancholy of the cut led many to regard it as the first in a new wave of ‘UK Steppers’ dub records. Built between Jah Tubbys and Rock studios as part of the ‘Sound Iration In Dub’ collection, the whole approach to the production was a radical departure from the norms set by Jah Shaka and the rest of London’s roots heirarchy during the 80s. Nick Manasseh, one half of the Sound Iration production team explains

“There was something about that record that had a different approach. UK roots had been present throughout the 80s, but it was in the hands of Shaka, Mad Professor and the Twinkle Brothers. They all worked in proper studios recording to 2” reels. Sound Iration was one of the first home studio records in the roots scene at that time. We used drum machines and were heavily influenced by that Augustus Pablo minor key sound so it was a different angle. Their [Shaka et al] tradition was still working from a Scientist, raw drum and bass, rub–a-dub feel. I don’t think anyone apart from Russ Disciples had put out a melodica style record at the time.”

Of course, the story doesn’t begin there. By 1988, Nick Manasseh and his then production partner Steve ‘Scruff’ Guilder had more than completed their reggae industry apprenticeships. Scruff had provided the basslines for West London’s legendary roots outfit Night Doctor whilst Nick had secured a much-lauded heavy roots radio show on the then illegal Kiss FM on the strength of the Manasseh Soundsystem. A system he co-founded with Eddie Manasseh and Billy T and debuted at the 1985 Notting Hill Carnival .

“We literally finished the boxes on carnival Sunday 1985. My girlfriend helped me put the last box together on the day. We played carnival from 85 to 90 and then again in 94 and 95. The sound thing was an ambition from the lower sixth form for me.  As a young kid growing up in London and I’d gone to carnival for the five years before that looking at Java playing and was like wow!”

Sticking with soundsystem, Manasseh is no stranger to the clash, his most memorable being the first time they met Jah Shaka in the dance.

“We had a new set. Our first four boxes had been nicked from a van which had been given to us by Joey and Norman Jay.  Rob Catto came in with some money and invested in the sound so we could build 12 new bass boxes. We’d also just bought some more amps from Tubby’s. We cut dubs for the session and it was fantastic. I wasn’t actually that nervous because I’d been going to Shaka solidly for the last three or four years and I knew the difference between him really playing well, and just playing an average session. To be honest, that night was the best that I’d ever seen Shaka play! He was just blazing! We were sounding good though and got a couple of good forwards off the crowd. The Jah Tubby’s crew said that we booted him.  I dispute that. We didn’t boot him by any means, but we made a good strong impact. The victory for us was in not looking stupid! That night we played a lot of our own productions. Funnily enough though, the second time we played Shaka in 1989, he had just got the Sound Iration album on a white label. He dropped ‘CTUFB’ and the whole place erupted! “

In the 20 years between the original release of Sound Iration In Dub and its now imminent reissue, Manasseh has demonstrated a diversity which many of his peers in the UK reggae scene lack. He’s cut plates for the Acid Jazz label, mixed pop tracks for the Chimes, and made successful forays into the hip hop world with the Columbia released Riddimwize project. Home is where the heart is though, and for Nick, reggae is definitely home. Take your pick of reggae royalty and you can be almost certain that he’s worked with them at some point. Either making records, or cutting dubplates for a myriad of soundsystems, including his own.

“I used to have a studio in Brixton which became a big specials studio. Specials sessions can sometimes be a bit of a nightmare! Dennis Brown would come down with like 20 people accompanying him, guns, you know, heavy. This was in a house with a two year old and a pregnant wife so it wasn’t always cool but it was great in a way too. Freddie McGregor once came in for a really good session where we built three new rhythms over Studio One tracks while he was sitting there. I did a brilliant one once for Rodigan with Charlie Chaplin, Brigadier Jerry and Josie Wales. That was a classic session. It was good doing that kind of yard style voicing. Its good to learn how to hold it down and not get flustered. I do remember one session with Everton Blender where he started getting a big screwy, saying it wasn’t so cool working outside of Jamaica with all these ‘foreign people’. I’ve always been quite accepting of that sort of thing though. I relish it in a way. There’s this little fiesty side of me that enjoys it.”

In line with the specials sessions but somehow incongruous with the digital melancholy of ‘Sound Iration in Dub’ are Nick’s newer productions. Even a casual listen to his recent work for the Brighton bred Roots Garden label reveal a much stronger Jamaican feel and production style.

“I decided quite early on that my taste is wider than UK roots. In a funny, paradoxical way, I’m not that good on the UK dub thing. I’ve always been more Jamaican in my taste than Joe from Aba Shanti or Mark from Iration. They’re much more UK steppers than me. Its great to see a resurgence in interest for the more Jamaican sounding reggae. For years I felt slightly isolated on the roots scene. I wanted to play new Jamaican music at a time where guys like Aba Shanti were saying they were only playing UK productions. Jamaican roots is a different vibe. A different tempo. Its not so bass driven, not so heavily minor key. Although I’m getting more and more into mixing dub again at the moment, my thing is all about the vocal. A good vocal turns me on more than anything else. “

Regardless of the creeping popularity of Jamaican style reggae, dub fans the world over will welcome the re-release of Sound Iration’s classic long player with open arms. With some of the original 12”s from the album changing hands for ludicrous amounts in the digital marketplace, those who missed out will now have a second chance to own a piece of dubwise history.

“We’ve been asked a lot over the years to reissue it. I was always unsure and didn’t want to destroy the collectors demand so I just let it be. Basically, Year Zero came along and wanted to do it properly with proper promotion. You don’t get offered that a lot these days, its quite special.  The fact that they wanted to do it, and that the album they just put out is X-Ray Specs, which meant quite a lot to me as an 11 year old, before I got into reggae, made me want to go ahead. It’s great to see six people tapping away at computers, employing PR agencies and the like. Even in these supposedly democratic internet days, its still about who can shout the loudest.”

Ever the ambitious producer, as the daylight begins to wane in Darren Mathers’ Jamtone studio, a regular workspace for the likes of Gussie P, Robert Lee, Earl 16 and of course Nick himself, the conversation shifts to future projects.

“I’m doing an album with Earl 16 which I’ve been recording here at Darren’s. That’s been a lovely experience. We work really well together. I want to do a themed Roots Garden album of the more digital sounding stuff I’ve done for them plus some more unreleased bits. Almost like a concept album really. The whole thing done on a Casio. I’d also like to do another proper Dub record. I mixed a track for the Resonators, one of the last dubs I did. It was one of the best dubs I’ve ever done! I definitely want to do another dub record. It might well be compiled though rather than produced as a dub record. The last proper dub record we did was ‘Step Like Pepper’. Since then it’s been strictly vocals. We’ve got loads of good vocals from our Roots Garden stuff and a proper dub, a reggae dub, always comes from a vocal track rather than being built intentionally as a dub track. There’s no doubt. For me, that is dub music. “

Sound Iration in Dub is due for release on 10th May 2010 courtesy of Year Zero. Follow them here for more information.

Nick Manasseh’s Top Five Roots LPs

1.    Heart of the Congos//The Congos (Black Art)
2.    Bobby Babylon//Freddy McGregor (Studio One)
3.    Visions//Dennis Brown (Joe Gibbs)
4.    Kaya//Bob Marley & The Wailers (Island)
5.    Dub Landings//Scientist (Starlight)

Special thanks to Darren Mathers @ Jamtone Studios for shelter, technical advice, and excellent ginger tea and SHOOK Magazine for allowing me to reproduce this piece for Heads High

Photo: Ben Scicluna

I just got back from a session where I dropped the killer Gussie Clarke production ‘Pirates Anthem‘ honouring the role of pirate radio; it got me thinking. So when I got home and found a link to a doc about the past, present and future of pirate broadcasting in my inbox, I figured it was more than coincidence.

Way back in the days when I was too young to go to the rave, pirate radio was my connection with the music I held so dear. Many a TDK D90 was filled with the sounds emanating from the likes of Sunrise, Centreforce and Pulse FM. And as this film reminds us, without pirate radio, we may never have heard the likes of Wiley, Kano, Dizzee and a whole heap of others besides. You’ll also get to hear first hand what it was like broadcasting from the first ever pirate stations 3 miles out to sea in international waters…now those guys knew the meaning of a love for music!

Press play and increase your ratings for the people on the roofs and in the studios making it all happen. They’re the true civil servants…

SHOOK is officially the shit! Yeah, I know I’m biased but on the real, who’s covering the sheer breadth & depth of art they are right now….in print?

Even though it appears we’re slipping back into winter here in LDN, the misleadingly titled ’spring’ edition is a film special and is packing the following heat:

…film scorers, underground filmmakers, music supervisors, subversive cinemas, advert music, off-the-wall music promos and rare film posters… includes Lalo Schiffrin, Clint Mansell (Requiem for A Dream), David Shire, Flying Lotus, Air, Sons of Cuba, Barry Jenkins, Jonny Trunk, The Scala, Top 50 Music Docs, Narcotic Farm, Mo Ali, Spike & Jones plus Prince Paul, JP Massiera, Bounce exhibition, Plastic People, Mount Kimbie, Ty  and a whole lot of other good stuff.

Cop it in all newsagents/record stores with brains and direct from source.

Also, watch this space for info on the release party on 17th April……

In the mean, here’s part one of a taster they posted as a lil’ promo for their recommended music documentaries feature. Check the remaining parts here.

Continuing with the African theme, I’ve been putting together a couple of articles around Richy Pitch’s ‘Ye Fre Mi Richy LP‘ set to drop in June on the ever-reliable BBE imprint. Watch this space for more info on the full pieces, but in the meantime, here’s a most excellent video for ‘Blackstar’, the first single release from the LP featuring US dwelling Ghanaian wordsmith M.anifest.

In some ways, ‘Blackstar’ is probably the least ‘African’ (in a traditional sense) cut on the album. It was actually my least favourite at first but it’s definately a grower. Props to Stringmouse for the video – takes me back to the days when computers took tapes and Mum took care of my washing. Good times….

You generally know when you’re in the presence of greatness. When I stepped into Adesose Wallace’s NW London abode to find him casually playing a Goje at his kitchen table, I had that familiar feeling of humility that only a learned elder can provoke. For those of you who don’t know who Adesose is, prepare to be amazed. Having roots in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia, Mr Wallace is a West African in the expanded sense of the term. An accomplished artist, singer, percussionist and many other things besides, Ade’s existence has been rich to say the least. I was sent by East London venue Passing Clouds (an organization with whom Adesose shares a close artistic relationship) to interview him and create a biography for their artist roster. When we began to break bread, I realized that I could easily write a series of books charting Ade’s experiences. I’m not a biographer per se, but I do feel its important to record the achievements of our great cultural ambassadors – besides stories about the arts/music scene in 70s Lagos, Covent Garden’s Africa Centre before the Soul II Soul Soundsystem and first hand accounts of the showmanship of Sierra Leone’s Geraldo Pino (African Funk legend and one of Fela’s inspirations) are like drugs to me, I can’t help but listen.

So I thought it’d be nice to drop a post every once in a while and relate a little of our conversation to you. Rather than an overview of Ade’s achievements (which i’ll save for Passing Clouds), think of each post as a snapshot of a time gone by. A window into the sights, sounds and smells which still have relevance today and are ingrained in the very fabric of our artistic culture.

Geraldo Pino was a huge star in the West Africa of the late 60s/early 70s. Hailing from Sierra Leone Pino turned the African popular music scene upside down with his heavy brand of Funk. Here’s what Adesose had to say about Geraldo, his band, his influence on Fela and the club scene in 70s Lagos:

‘I’ve always been a musician but for a long time I didn’t play an instrument, my instrument was my mouth. In school I studied music theory, Brahms, Mozart, Schubert, Handel. I sang in the church choir and travelled from country to country singing gospel. In Sierra Leone [Adesose's place of birth] I wasn’t playing anything professionally, I used to go to gigs and fetes and just hang out. Around that time there was this band called the Heartbeats, Geraldo Pino & The Heartbeats. Geraldo Pino was the biggest musician ever to come out of Sierra Leone. You could call him a megastar. He was known all across Africa as early as 1964. His music was a combination of James Brown and Elvis Presley, and he even dressed like Elvis, with the big collars and the suits. He was a huge guy, a big womaniser and a good singer, he had all the star qualities. It’s only now he’s dead that people are starting to know about him. In Nigeria he is very famous. He’s the man who influenced Fela to make Afrobeat. There would be no Afrobeat music if Pino hadn’t toured there with his band.

Advertisment featuring ET Mensah and Geraldo Pino

He arrived in Nigeria like a true superstar. He drove a Pontiac convertible and he had a big bus that carried his musicians and his instruments. He travelled from country to country by road, so when he got to Nigeria, he arrived with all of that. Nigerian bands did not have anything close to the quality of equipment he had. Strobe lights, PA system. This guy had all these things in the early 60s. He had things that most Nigerian musicians had never even seen before. He was way ahead of time! Fela came on the scene in 1970. When Pino played in Lagos, that was where it was happening. People flocked to see him – wherever he is, its sold out. He was the godfather of soul in Africa.

So Fela is doing his Jazz thing with Koola Lobitos. He’d come back from England and was doing a mix of Highlife and Jazz. Something made him stop playing that, and that something was Geraldo Pino. Since Pino arrives, he’s the biggest star in the country. He’s playing for the President and the state house, right down to the grass-roots level. He was cleaning-up. That’s what led Fela to change. Fela had just begun to sing about cultural awareness, ‘Black Man’s Cry’ and those kind of songs. Pino arrived in town, confused the whole thing with his James Brown style and Fela got mad. He was like ‘no way is that going to happen in my home country when this guy comes from Sierra Leone – coming to disrupt what i’m just beginning to set up’. So Fela decided to disband his own group. That’s how Fela, Tony Allen, Tunde Williams (he and Fela used to play trumpet. I was there when he learned to play saxophone) and the others moved to Afrobeat. The sound that mixed the African drum rhythms, Jazz and Funk to create a new style. That first band was the Nigeria 70.

Back in Sierra Leone, Geraldo Pino’s house was just up the road from mine so I knew him and the band personally. We grew up together. I used to check out their gigs back home and they knew me as a singer from the choral stuff I was doing.When I came to Lagos in the 60s, my mother had a hotel which had a night-club called the Q Club. I moved in there, and Pino’s group used to come and check me. The Q Club name is originally from London. Africans have been coming to London for a long long time man – my mother is 85 and since she was a little girl she’s been coming to England. Africans know London & England inside out, it’s no mystery to us! Everybody came to the Q Club. It was in the centre of Lagos so a lot of artists used to pass through.

Because I knew Geraldo and his band from Sierra Leone, I went to every gig they played in Lagos. They knew I was a singer and because I’d heard them play so much, I became familiar with a lot of their music. I used to occasionally help out with backing vocals but that was about it. One day, one of their singers walked out. In 70s Lagos, musicians would play on a contract basis. you’d be booked to play a certain venue for like 3 months, and when that 3 months finish, you move to the next place. That means every night, 6 days a week you’re obliged to play. You pick your night-off and the rest of the time you’re working – from 9pm to 6am in the morning! There was also a thing called ’showtime’ which was when the featured artists for the night performed. From 12 midnight to 3am it’s showtime. After that, its over to the band and dance till daybreak. So Francis Fouster [asks me if I know who he is, to which I reply no]. People need to know about Francis Fouster. People need to know about the real people. Right now he plays congas and percussion for Hugh Masekela. He’s been playing with Masekela since 1974. Fouster was the band-leader of the Heartbeats. Pino was the owner of the band, the showman. he could sing and play a bit of guitar. Pino would come for showtime, sing, play guitar and his band would back him. He’d do his show, and then get in his Pontiac and leave! The rest of the night, the Heartbeats would play, and the leader of the Heartbeats was Francis Fouster. He’d play kit drum and sing lead at the same time. When the singer walked out that night, I stepped in and helped Francis because he was struggling man. He was on the kit, singing, and at the same time he had to organise all these other artists – it was a hectic night. From then on I became part of the band.

Eventually, the Heartbeats split from Geraldo Pino. They were touring between Ghana, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast. They got to Accra in Ghana and next thing the band was split. It was kind of Pino’s fault I think. There were times when the band were waiting to get their money, and Pino had just got into his car and drove out of town. Not necessarily that he didn’t want to pay them, he was just doing other things and wasn’t there to authorise the release of funds. Remember, he’s a superstar, a womaniser, after a show he’s leaving with his women and not thinking about his band. When the Heartbeats came back to Lagos, of course they checked me because I’m at the hotel, I could give them rooms, and my mother has a club so they’re thinking maybe something could work.

There was this half Lebanese guy who was very popular in 70s Lagos called Nabir. He was a club DJ. he used to play in a club which is actually still there today called the Phoenicia NIghtclub. It was owned by another Lebanese guy called Mahmoud. It was originally a nightclub but he converted it into a club with a restaurant. We went to Nabir and explained the situation to him. We had a band with all their instruments but no amps bacause they were owned by Pino. We wanted Mahmoud to let us play there and provide the missing amplifiers, supported by Nabir on the turntables. Mahmoud provided the equipment and we started playing.

Of course, we needed a new name. We came up with two. Barof and Baranta. They were both creole or patois if you like for rebel. Baranta sounded nice. Francis liked it so we went with that.  So a new band was born from what used to be Geraldo Pino & The Heartbeats. But Geraldo Pino, he never, ever faded…..(to be continued)