AA.VV.

Repetition helps: reggae was the first cultural product that an overtly colonised people successfully exported to the land of their conquerors. Playing it isn't just about shifting the accent to the upbeat; it's about standing with the wretched of the earth. If in the West it laid the foundations for much of musical knowledge (and we're not just talking about hip hop and dance, but also post-punk and industrial), it's no surprise that this blend of spirituality, carnality and awareness has made inroads into so many Third World countries – a definition we should proudly reclaim.

Following the series of releases that Habibi Funk dedicated to Libya (culminating last year in the amazing compilation 'A Selection Of Music From Libyan Tapes'), it is now Soundway's turn to pay tribute to Nigeria's marvellous scene. A musically eclectic and linguistically unique landscape, featuring a second-generation Broken English born from the fusion of West Indies patwa and West Africa pidgin.

Nothing is really missing, from dub ("Drunken Driver" by B.G. and Fibre) to dancehall ("Reggae Rigmarole" by Jan Blast), with splashes of funk ("Watiyo" by Don Bruce) and soul ("Wayo Nack In Town" by Majah Kungu) and, on the whole, superb production quality. Among the crowd featured on this double compilation, there is also a strong female presence, led by the star Oby Onyioha but also including lesser-known names such as Georgy-Gold Owoghiri or Sheila and Des Majek.

In Nigeria, as on the Island, politics and religion are intertwined: Alphonsus Idigo's line "there is danger in this mystic world" cannot help but echo the "it sipple out deh" from the legendary "War Ina Babylon", penned by the late great Max Romeo. Similarly, it is hard not to see in Pat Bio's Jah or Alpha Kuffa's Messiah the revolutionary leaders of a country that will continue to fight for its dignity, strictly inna rub a dub style.

06/04/2026