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TROJAN PRESENTS

We’re proud to bring you the definitive Jamaican music series: Trojan Presents.

11 double CDs highlighting the best of the styles and genres coming from Jamaica. From Mento to Ragga.

Dub

First popularised in the early Seventies, Dub primarily consists of recordings being manipulated and reshaped, usually with extensive use of echo and reverb effects, with the vocal and various instrumental tracks intermittently dropped in and out of the mix, placing an emphasis on the drum and bass parts.

Ska

Characterised by its rapid, jumpy tempo, created by short piano or guitar stabs on the offbeat, Ska was the national sound of Jamaica throughout the early Sixties. Fusing Jazz, R&B and Mento, the sound had run its course by 1966, before being revived by a plethora of UK-based bands the following decade.

Reggae

The generic term for modern Jamaican music, Reggae developed in 1968, superseding Rock Steady as the island's dominant musical style. Initially characterised by a guitar rhythm that accentuated the second and fourth beat in each bar or a shuffling organ style, the genre has since undergone numerous changes and spawned numerous subs-genres.

Rock Steady

The successor to Ska, Rock Steady first came into being during the long hot summer of 1966, dominating the Jamaican music scene for two glorious years before being superseded by Reggae. During this golden period, in which vocalists finally came to the fore, many of the rhythms that have since provided the backbone for island’s music industry were created.

Roots

By the mid-Seventies, many Jamaican performers were looking increasingly inward for inspiration, highlighting issues such as local politics, the Rasta faith, and social depravation and disorder. These themes provided the main focus for songwriters up until the advent of Dancehall in the Eighties.

Lover's Rock

In the mid-1970s, many British Reggae fans found musical fulfilment in the first home-produced style to be successfully exported to Jamaica – Lover’s Rock. This romantic style of Reggae style continued to dominate the UK scene well into the Eighties and even today forms an integral party of the British Reggae music industry.

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