AA.VV. - Fight The Fire: Digital Reggae, Conscious Roots And Dub In Nigeria 1986-91
2026 (Soundway)
dancehall, dub, reggae
8
Repetita iuvant: reggae was the first cultural product that a colonized country ever successfully exported to the homes of its conquerors. Playing it doesn't just mean shifting the accent to the offbeat, it means siding with the wretched of the earth. If in the West it laid the groundwork for a huge chunk 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 consciousness struck a chord in so many countries of the Third World – a term worth reclaiming with pride.
After the string of releases Habibi Funk has dedicated to Libya (culminating last year in the splendid compilation “A Selection Of Music From Libyan Tapes”), it's now Soundway's turn to pay tribute to the rich Nigerian scene. A landscape that's musically eclectic and linguistically unique, built on a broken english squared, born from the blend of West Indian patwa and West African pidgin.
Truly nothing is 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), with production quality that's superlative on average. Amid the crowd filling this double compilation, there's also a solid female presence, led by star Oby Onyioha, but also semi-unknown names like Georgy-Gold Owoghiri or Sheila and Des Majek.
In Nigeria as on the Island, politics and religion are intertwined: that “There is danger in this mystic world” sung by Alphonsus Idigo can't help but echo the “It sipple out deh” of the classic “War Ina Babylon”, penned by the late Max Romeo. In the same way, it's hard not to glimpse in Pat Bio's Jah or Alpha Kuffa's Messiah the revolutionary leaders of a country that will keep fighting for its dignity, strictly inna rub a dub style.
Ride the wave of great music
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06/04/2026
This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Ossydiana Speri, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.
Tracklist
- 1. Pat Bio - Guide Us Jah
- 2. Don Bruce - Watiyo
- 3. Johnny Keslar - Wadada
- 4. Orits Williki - Fight The Fire
- 5. Majah Kungu - Wayo Nack In Town
- 6. Oby Onyioha - Raid Dem Jah
- 7. Georgy-gold Owoghiri - Wonderful Holiday
- 8. Mac Dessy Adult - Labrock Dub
- 9. B.G. and Fibre - Drunken Driver (dub)
- 10. Alphonsus Idigo - Mystic World
- 11. Sheila & Des Majek - Mother Nature
- 12. Jan Blast - Reggae Rigmarole
- 13. Alpha Kuffa - Messiah I
- 14. Bob Dazzy - Abandon Nation
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