Hip-Hop Novedades

A re-lick of Words, from the Black Ark, with extra horns.

Ever topical, from Rasheda.

Peckings do over of Carol Kalphat's Africa.

First time reissue, recorded in 1979, top UK steppers.

ALEM (worldin Amharic) is the 2nd release in a series of collaborations between The Hoodna Orchestra and artist and performers from Ethiopia. The song was written and sung by the singer and poet Demisu Belete, to a tune by Ilan Smilan. It is an intense love song describing one's love as a cure to all pains and woes.

Belete's singing style is heavily influenced by the great singers from the golden age of Ethiopian music, especially Mahmoud Ahmed and Tilahun Gesesse. Belete's deep voice, alongside the dynamic and groovy performance by the Hoodna orchestra, creates a powerful composition that sweeps the listeners away to a different time and place.

The B-side is an Ethio-dub version of the song that features members of ADYABO Ensemble, a group that specializes in traditional Ethiopian music and Folklore.

The song titled ALEM-DUB is an attempt at fusing old and new, tradition and Modernity. The result is a hypnotically groovy track, heavily painted in Bright psychedelic colors.

The single will be released in a 7" vinyl format and will be launched at the Red Sea Jazz Festival Aug. 30th 2017 and in a series of special shows featuring DEMISU BELETE which will come to Israel especially for this occasion.

The reggae rocker, Courtney John unleashes his new album,
Ecosystem, born from a collaboration with the French label Soul
Man Records which also produced the successful album Reggae
Loves Soul!
With this new LP, recorded and mixed between Kingston and Paris, Courtney John has created a lyrical painting of our world, hosted by a classic early reggae sound that will appeal to reggae aficionados and a wider audience of music lovers...

LTD Black + Blue LP

Landing on Partial, from the man Jah Scoop is `Insurrection' - a moody and militant organ-tinged melodic instrumental piece, which refreshingly features nothing but 'real instruments'. So, think late 1970's style with perhaps an unintentional nod towards Jackie Mittoo's `Ayatolla'
*Despite the brooding pace and nature of `Insurrection', it drops heavy on sound system, especially the echo-laden dub version on the b-side.
*So, Jah Scoop Who dat Jah Scoop is in fact Guy McAffer aka Geezer, the legendary techno producer and artist Geezer of­ RAW and Stay Up Forever fame. He's also the keyboard player for festival-favourites Back to the Planet and guitarist with punk outfit Dogshite. That's who.

REPRESS !

Outstanding three track EP from the archives of Caliban (A side project of London musician Milton Myrie, a session guitar player who worked with cult UK buddhist afro and reggae band Ozo as well as on the much sought after Steel and Skin 'Afro Punk Reggae' 12'). Talk about bang for ye buck.. 1 side crucial oddball digital cuts, b side sounds like a UK jazz funk classic... Gold Print Sleeve. BIG TIP!
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Caliban produced only one self-released 7' 'Open Mind / Digital Reggae' in 1984.

Following the re-discovery of this very little known 7' by Caliban a few years back, UK producer Jackson Bailey aka Tapes managed to track Milton down, who as well as being in possession of most of the stock of the original record, was also sat on a number of amazing unreleased recordings from the Caliban sessions. With an album of unreleased Caliban material compiled by Tapes to follow later on Music From Memory, this EP introduces one of the unreleased tracks, the incredible feel good disco anthem Supernatural'. Taking us on a glittering, rhythm charged rocket tour of the Funk Cosmos, this until-now-unheard future classic will surely set the summer nights alight.

The three track 12' also includes Digital Reggae' which featured on the original Caliban 7'. This computerised dancehall/funk hybrid was partially penned to address the lack of black culture included in the payload of the United States' first space station, Digital Reggae will be included in the Payload of Skylab!'. As well as the original mix, the EP also includes a new dub put together by Milton himself and assisted by riddim specialist Tapes!

Ramrock Records are proud to present the new album from musical visionary, Ghetto Priest.

Already known to many as the frontman of Asian Dub Foundation and vocalist on their globally acclaimed single 'Fortress Europe', Ghetto Priest has been captivating audiences with his powerful vocals and magnetic stage presence over the past three decades.

With a raw energy and spirit un-matched by many artists of his generation, he constantly pushes at the boundaries of roots music, his style strongly maintaining the essence of his Jamaican heritage. Produced by On-U Sound supremo Adrian Sherwood..

His latest sermon is a blend of righteous incitements and damning indictments that reflect the paranoia of daily life. Title track 'Every Man For Every Man' asks us to reach out to our fellow neighbour while he delivers a sobering message towards the environment and defending if from the evils of a money-motivated government on 'Sacred Ground'.

On the mystical 'Good Lord', Ghetto Priest seeks spiritual guidance and his raw primal energies and forces come to light in a passionate re-working of the Robert Burns poem, 'I Murder Hate', before the trials and triumphs of black women are voiced in the Judy Mowatt song, 'Black Woman'. On the little-known Peter Tosh song, 'Babylon Queendom', he passionately announces Babylon's fall, demanding back the riches she's plundered.

A long-time member of the On-U Sound family, Ghetto Priest was a former rudeboy and Arsenal football hooligan who was incarcerated briefly after stepping on to the wrong side of the tracks. Turning to Rastafarianism, he began writing lyrics, and he honed his vocal skills and artistic persona around the sound system culture of the early 80s, before becoming part of Sherwood's African Head Charge collective and started MC-ing on the producer's live/DJ sets.

As one of the more flamboyant and creative performers to emerge from the scene, he was invited by Asian Dub Foundation to take on the vocals for the opening track of their 'Enemy of the Enemy' album released in 2003 along with lead vocals on the follow-up album, 'Tank'. His On-U Sound debut came a year later, the critically acclaimed album 'Vulture Culture', produced by Adrian Sherwood.

He went on to record under his own name for a number of other labels including Reggae On Top and Conscious Sounds. More or lesser known artists to have flavoured his guest vocals include The Underwolves, Sinead O'Connor, Groove Armada, James Hardway (aka David Harrow) and Little Axe.

In 2011, Ghetto Priest joined forces with Lucid Mover in a project called Screaming Soul. This resulted in the album 'Ghost Inna Shell' and in 2012, an Adrian Sherwood and Nick Coplowe (aka Mutant Hi-Fi)-remixed companion, 'Ghost Inna Dub'.

In 2016, he released the single 'Life Ain't Easy' based on Dennis Brown's 'Easy, Take It Easy', via Ramrock Records, and has two more projects in the Ramrock pipeline set for future release.

David Rodigan, Premiered in 'Clash', reviewed in 'Reggae Vibes', Soundsphere Magazine, God is in the TV. To be reviewd in MOJO etc. I'll update as and when I get the reviews

Reissue from this 45, originally out on 71 Records in 1986!

Reissue from this 45, originally out on Ridim Force in 1986!

Recluse joins the Version Collective family with his dubby melodic Rastaman Seen.

Subtle Mind, Melle and The Illuminated join the heavyweight 12" on remix duties.

Sub required material!

ONLY 1 LIMITED COPY PER CUSTOMER !

Brought together from Brighton's diverse and thriving arts scene and a love of the hypnotic, spontaneous and psychedelic sounds of dub, Resonators is a band blurring genre boundaries and carving their own niche within the ever- evolving sounds of dub-reggae.

2016 saw them release their third album, Imaginary People, described by as "nine tracks of beautifully crafted, exquisite roots reggae" and this latest single is a timely and much needed celebration of coming together as one people and one community with no leaders, just mutual understanding and uncensored joy! In that way it represents the band themselves and their need to create positive change through music.

The Ash Walker remixes of Right Time - the fourth single to be drawn from their latest album - see this super hot producer and multi-instrumentalist, whose fans include Gilles Peterson, Don Letts and Lefto, take the tune into futuristic King Tubby territories.

This extremely limited, hand-stamped white label 7" of Ash's mixes won't be around for long, and is sure to quickly become a collector's item!

By the 1970s Studio One and Clement 'Sir Coxsone' Dodd had already proved himself to be the defining force in Reggae for almost two decades. From running the Downbeat sound system on the lawns and yards of Kingston in the late 1950s to opening Studio One at 13 Brentford Road at the start of the 1960s, ushering in Ska and Rocksteady and establishing the careers of most of Jamaica's artists - everyone from Bob Marley and
The Wailers, Ken Boothe, Toots and The Maytals, The Skatalites, Jackie Mittoo and more - Clement Dodd had until this point dominated the Jamaican musical world.
And yet, incredibly, Clement Dodd was barely half way through his musical path, maintaining Studio One's number one position in the Jamaican music scene throughout the 1970s with a combination of musical and creative innovation and an endless capacity to adapt and create new musical fashions. By the end of the 1970s
Dancehall had become the defining sound on the island. Dancehall was essentially a tribute by other Jamaican producers and artists to the classic music of Studio One created in the 1960s as young artists across the island created new songs, while musicians recreated these original classic foundation Studio One rhythms. As on other occasions, Clement Dodd rose to this new musical challenge by producing a whole new era of classics for Studio One.
The roots of Dancehall begin with the DJs of the early 1970s, who were the first to sing new material over earlier classic rhythms. Early DJ pioneers such as Dillinger and Prince Jazzbo both feature here toasting over classic songs - The Mad Lad's Ten to One and The Eternals' Queen of the Minstrel. But it is the new wave of artists who arrived at Studio One at the onset of Dancehall which enabled Studio One to maintain its number
one status as the whole of Kingston's rival music producers - Channel One, Joe Gibbs and many others - attempted to challenge this position.
Sugar Minott, Michigan and Smiley, Willie Williams, Lone Ranger had all grown up listening to the classic Studio One music of the 1960s and were able to pay the greatest compliment to the label by creating the defining new music of this new era with songs that combined all the musical and technological developments
of the 1970s - dub, deejaying, discomixes, syndrums, synthesizers and more - into the sound of the future: Dancehall.
Throughout this era Clement Dodd also continued to work with a number of original and returning artists - such as Alton Ellis, Horace Andy, Freddie McGregor, Johnny Osbourne - updating old rhythms and creating new ones while employing the in-house band variously known as The Brentford All-Stars/Rockers/Disco Set to update these sounds in order to maintain Studio One's number one position as the defining force in Reggae.
This is Soul Jazz Records' latest new collection of classic and rare Studio One recordings and is released on triple LP (+ download code), deluxe CD and digital album.

Originally released in 1992 this is a 13 track single black vinyl from one of the pioneers of the Dancehall scene. Includes digital download code.

While frmly based in the island grooves that inspired the birth of the band nearly two decades ago, The Black Seeds' sound casts a wide net, layering funk, soul, Afrobeat, and other eclectc elements over their dub/reggae foundatons. It's contemporary groove music with infuences from soul and funk and reggae rhythms - and even rock...' explains guitarist/vocalist
Barnaby Weir.

Lead track Beter Days' is a Black Seeds classic and an excitng taster of what is to come from the new record. Rich with chugging guitars and soothing vocals, the track is warm with a positve message: Beter Days are calling, lonely nights are leaving. I see beter Days, are just around the corner. No it wont be long tll something good happens for ya.'
Described by Clash Magazine as one of the best live reggae acts on the planet,' The Black Seeds legendary eight-piece live show infuses raw energy and good vibes wherever they go, fueling mult-platnum sales and a growing worldwide following. With countless sold out tours behind them and performances at many of the world's leading festvals, The Black Seeds will be bringing touring the new record around the world this summer.

A hypnotic flute-led instrumental from singer, composer and genre-hopping multi-instrumentalist G.T. Moore, originally released in 1991

Lily Of Da Valley is the first full-length album from Jesse Royal, who in his short career so far, has already been featured in Vogue magazine, had a Vice TV episode appearance, a #1 Jamaican single, and over 8 million views on a single video. Keeping authentic reggae music alive is Jesse Royal's mission as he continues on the legacy of the late greats Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Jacob Miller, to name a few. Jesse Royal's restless musical drive paired with profound music, prolific lyrics and socially-conscious messages has him regarded as the
next reggae star to emerge from reggae's birth land of Jamaica.

The Selecter, the riotous skank machine who exploded out of Coventry in the game-changing, multi-cultural 2 Tone explosion of 1979 release their brand new album 'Daylight' on October 6th. Now reunited around the nucleus of original members Pauline Black and Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson, The Selecter are firing on all righteous cylinders in 2017 and 'Daylight' is their most urgent, politically engaged and purely uplifting music since the days of 'Too Much Pressure' and 'Celebrate The Bullet'.
Recorded in London against a strangely familiar backdrop of political foment, anger at austerity policies and the sudden emergence of a revitalized left wing vying for Government, 'Daylight' looks at the modern world with classic Selecter energy, wit and danceability.
'Daylight' is also a spectacular return for one of the first British female stars to really shake up gender and racial stereotypes. Cropped and cool, Pauline was the girl who looked and moved like the sharpest rude boy.
She flipped the Tonic suit and porkpie hat into a feminist statement, making the famous 2 Tone label man,
flesh and female.
Many faces have moved through The Selecter's line-up since their early days in Coventry. Now a mix of musicians - four white and four black, very 2-Tone' - work with Pauline, Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson and producer-writer-arranger Neil Pyzer in a tight-knit family team.
The album features 10 brand new songs including new single and opening track 'Frontline' (straight onto the 6Music Playlist) which utilises a weapons-grade UK reggae rhythm to talk about the new place where confrontation takes place - digital and social media. Title track 'Daylight' sings of the straightforward joys
and pains of everyday life, whilst 'Pass The Power' is a rallying cry for a newly politicised generation. Full tracklisting goes like this:
Frontline / Remember Me / Daylight / The Big Badoof / Paved with Cold / Taking Back Control / Things Fall Apart / Mayhem / 3 Reasons / Pass the Power Heading off to the US in August to tour with Rancid & The Dropkick Murphys, The Selecter return to
Europe and the UK later in the year. They will launch 'Daylight' at the (now sold out) London Roundhouse on October 6 with a special double-header with fellow 2 Tone veterans The Beat featuring Ranking Roger.
Fans can expect classics from On My Radio' and 'Missing Words' plus the new tracks too.

Before Bob Marley came on the scene, many in Britain dismissed reggae as either the stuff of one-hit wonders or skinhead
dance music. Now it is recognised as influential style, which has not only sold millions of records worldwide but had a major effect on the mainstream. But only a few of his fans realise the man's recording career was as lengthy as it was: though he died aged just 36 in 1981, he'd been active in the studio since 1962 onwards.Despite some of the tracks featured here would be re-recorded on later albums, these 'prototypes' exhibit a rough-hewn, soulful feeling. We all knew his music was timeless, this was but further proof.

Scott Monteith's 10th Deadbeat album, Walls & Dimensions,is now available through his own BLKRTZ label.

Comprising 8 tracks and featuring vocal contributions from a diverse range of Berlin based artists, as well as for the first time Deadbeat himself, this 10th outing sees Monteith elegantly showcasing his wide ranging musical interests with a striking new sense of gravity and cutting lyricism not seen in his previous works.

A wise old curmudgeon once said that all great art is born of great suffering, and if that sentiment holds true this album has had plenty of fuel for it's proverbial fire.' Says Monteith of the writing process . The last month of 2014 and first half of this year were not kind to me and my family to say the least. Thankfully I was able to turn to music and writing to work through those feelings over the last year, and found some absolutely lovely people to voice them when I wasn't 't up to the task of expressing them myself. '

Featuring guest vocal contributions from Fink, Delhia de France, and Elif Becir, as well as cello performances by Maarten Vos, Walls & Dimensions sees Monteith exploring all facets of his musical interest with deadly focus and passion, from pure ambient drones, to heart felt reggae blues, and dubbed out late night club bangers.
heart felt reggae blues, and dubbed out late night club bangers.

Devon Lyon, born Devon Bailey, moved to Kingston in the 70's to live in Trenchtown with his mum, his sister and his brother named Dennis. Dennis was working in the new Kingston area on a construction site. Dennis met a friend who worked at the construction site and that friend was the lead singer from the group The Chantells.
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Dennis told The Chantells lead singer that his brother was singing at home like he was singing everyday on construction work site. The Chantells lead singer told Dennis to bring his brother Devon. One day, Devon came with his brother Devon and they met the three members of the group The Chantells. They became friends. Devon started to verse with them in the evening and they really like him style.

With the help of The Chantells group, Devon recorded his first track « Shine Eye Girl » in 1978. One day, his cousin from london Phil Matthias came to Jamaica to see his family. Phil loved the song « Shine Eye Girl » because he heard it on the radio in London a few months before. Phil realized Devon was his cousin so he was searching for Devon to record a song.

« Shadow After Dark » was recorded in 1979 at famous Byron Lee studio « Dynamics » with In Crowd band. The In Crowd band were a christian group. They were going to church every sunday. Devon Lyon wrote this lyrics because he get stealt many times by someone in the night at his home but never really knew who it was. Everytime he wake up, he only saw a shadow from the window. So he realized someone was in his house. Everytime we wake up with his machette but he never see the thief. So he wrote « i will never, never will i ever, trust no shadow after dark ».

Phil Matthias produced the song but never paid his cousin. Everytime Devon was asking him for royalties, he told another story so after a while Devon started to move forward. Actually he didn't know what to do to get his royalties. He stopped the music and languish into obscurity for more than 30 years.

Few years ago, Devon Lyon met Enrico Vicari, an italian reggae lover living in Jamaica. Enrico is the man behind « Vinyl Club Jamaica ». One day, Devon brought him his two songs and ask Enrico to play them. Everyone liked it. Devon also took the microchophe to sing on the b-side more than 30 years after the release of his tune. Enrico get the idea to capture this moment (check youtube) so the world will know Devon Lyon is still alive and well.

Awarded a five star review by Rolling Stone magazine on it's original 1978 release, 'Africa Must Be Free By 1983' was met with great acclaim and has gone on to be one the most sought after of all classic roots reggae albums. Re-mastered for release in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Greensleeves label, the album is a fitting testament to two titans of reggae (artist and producer Augustus Pablo) that were taken from us far too soon.
Hugh Mundell was a protégé of Augustus Pablo and recorded for his Rockers International imprint. Together the two made these classic sides which still stand as genre defining forty years on.

The first official re-issue of rare, killer 12". Spiritual roots on a heavy digital rhythm. Finally available again on vinyl., originally out on Ras Affinityin 1986!
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Jamaiel Shabaka was born in the parish of St.Thomas, Jamaica. As far as he remember, he grew up like a child in the country side by farming vegetables under the sun with his family. At the age of five of seven years old, he moved with his family to Los Angeles, California. He discovered music with his mum playing piano and that's how he started singing.

Sometimes he came back to Jamaica and there he experienced Sound System for the first time. There he met a brethren named Ras Kiddus. Jamaiel wanted to meet Sugar Minott so he asked Ras Kiddus to help him. Ras Kiddus brought him to the Youth Promorion yard and organized a meeting. Sugar Minott took time to help Jamaiel to produce his song 'I Am That I Am' at Channel 1 studio on Maxfield avenue. The melody came to him with the inspiration of Jah Rastafari.

Originally released in 1979, Blood A Go Run' is a heavyweight roots reggae tune sung by obscure artist Leroy Brown and backed by famous Soul Syndicate band. This is a timeless roots rock reggae recorded and mixed at King Tubby's studio in Jamaica. Blood ago run when you play dis ya one !!!

Reissue from this 45, produced by Scientist - originally out on Writers Of Rastafari in 1981!

There is so much good music out there that you've never heard of. Bedroom musicians putting together records that never come out, or finally see the light of day after many years. Such is the case with Fru Assah Atanga aka Colonel Faat. He was born in Camaroon, but made the trek to Nigeria at 21 to learn how to play an instrument. That instrument would be the saxophone. Learning his craft he would then transition to play with several groups in a live capacity around Nigeria in various hotels and night clubs. Moving from Nigeria to Ghana he would would partake in a few recordings as well as recording four records in his own living room. None have ever been released. The first single he has released on Agogo Records is fantastic. "Balantinje" is a light, airy and funky track that is perfect for the summer dance floors and a total vibe out record. Great horns permeate throughout. Think Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela meet updated vibes for 2017. The spirit of the music is definitely there and right in front. There is also a remix of the track by Mankoora that is a little more down tempo but none the less funky. Now we are just waiting with baited breath for the rest of his music to surface.

- Album premiere on The FADER & press includes Afropop, Sounds & Colours, Time Out, Remezcla, Univision, WFMU
- First edition vinyl limited to 500 copies worldwide
- Band members also part of M.A.K.U Soundsystem, Bulla en el Barrio & Names You Can Trust releases
- Artwork & videos by Colombian artists Goske Rojo & Hugo Oro
- Numerous shows & residencies around NYC
- No Regreso' mixed by Beyoncé engineer Stuart White

Rooted in Colombia and based in New York, Combo Chimbita lives in the future. Powerhouse vocalist Carolina Oliveros, synth and bassist Prince of Queens, guitarist Niño Lento, and drummer Dilemastronauta began experimenting with different traditional musical styles during late-night residencies at Barbès in Brooklyn. Exploring Afro-Caribbean styles through improvisational long-form trips, Combo Chimbita came together as a four-piece band after they started encouraging more vocals byOliveros, who tightens the rhythm with her guacharaca. Her voice is so powerful that it leads us in that direction,' says Prince of Queens.
The band draws on traditional music from everywhere: Panama,
Caribbean, Colombia, tamboritos, '70s funaná from Cape Verde,
kompa from Haiti, cumbia, dub and reggae from Jamaica. We try to incorporate it in a way that if feels ours, so you hear these influences there but they come from our background, and our background is heavy rock, psychedelic funk and soul,' says guitarist Niño Lento. As Prince of Queens puts it: Combo Chimbita is like a comeback to that raw punk energy, back to where it all started for me. But then obviously with the elements that we've grown to love and appreciate: the African diaspora
and Caribbean and South America.'