A version of this response appeared on the Black Rock Coalition’s website.
When Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner made offensive comments in The New York Times about women and Black artists, the Black Rock Coalition, which has battled stereotypes and musical categorizations about what rock is “supposed to be” since 1985, felt obligated to speak out and condemn his misogynistic and racist statements. While we were among many organizations and individuals to call out Wenner, he also had a number of supporters, citing his contributions to popular culture and to the world of music journalism.
When Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner made offensive comments in The New York Times about women and Black artists, the Black Rock Coalition, which has battled stereotypes and musical categorizations about what rock is “supposed to be” since 1985, felt obligated to speak out and condemn his misogynistic and racist statements. While we were among many organizations and individuals to call out Wenner, he also had a number of supporters, citing his contributions to popular culture and to the world of music journalism.
- 10/23/2023
- by LaRonda Davis, Earl Douglas and Darrell M. McNeill
- Rollingstone.com
Tony Kanal first heard the names Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare when he was growing up in Southern California in the Eighties. “In my teens, when No Doubt started, we listened to a lot of reggae and ska music,” the bass player says. “And it was hard to have a conversation about reggae music without Sly and Robbie. Their names were synonymous with reggae music… All those quintessential reggae basslines, like ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ by Black Uhuru, were a huge influence. Later on, all those riddims they put together,...
- 12/10/2021
- by Simon Vozick-Levinson
- Rollingstone.com
Robbie Shakespeare, the renowned reggae bassist who helped move the genre into new sonic territory and whose playing was heard on classics by Black Uhuru and Peter Tosh as well as albums by rock icons such as Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger, has died at age 68. His death was announced on Twitter by Olivia Grange, Jamaica’s Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment & Sport. A cause of death was not immediately disclosed, but The Jamaica Gleaner noted that the musician had recently been hospitalized for kidney damage.
As half of the...
As half of the...
- 12/8/2021
- by David Browne
- Rollingstone.com
Robbie Shakespeare — reggae artist extraordinaire, prolific bassist, and in-demand producer alongside his longtime collaborator Sly Dunbar — admits he was “humbled” upon learning he made Rolling Stone’s recent list of the 50 Greatest Bassists of All Time.
“Number 17, that’s good,” Shakespeare says of his ranking, “compared to all the bass players in the world.” When asked where he’d put himself on the list, the Sly and Robbie hitmaker jokes, “Number two.”
For Shakespeare, great bass playing is all about “the style.” “Most bass players, like drummers, have a style,...
“Number 17, that’s good,” Shakespeare says of his ranking, “compared to all the bass players in the world.” When asked where he’d put himself on the list, the Sly and Robbie hitmaker jokes, “Number two.”
For Shakespeare, great bass playing is all about “the style.” “Most bass players, like drummers, have a style,...
- 7/21/2020
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
One of the greatest rhythm sections to ever rub-a-dub on planet Earth, Sly and Robbie’s client roster has included Dylan, Madonna, Serge Gainsbourg, and No Doubt. But the team’s best jams are the most deeply rooted in the Jamaican music they helped invent — at the core of Peter Tosh’s band; with the Compass Point All-Stars; and on their own Taxi Records sessions, source of some of the reggae canon’s mightiest sides. Their ur-grooves justify from the get-go Red Gold Green & Blue, a set of blues, r...
- 7/12/2019
- by Will Hermes
- Rollingstone.com
Reggae great Big Youth makes a rare return to the mic for a rendition of Bo Diddley’s “Gunslinger” on the latest cut off the upcoming Red, Gold, Green & Blue compilation, the first release from Zak Starkey’s Trojan Jamaica label.
On “Gunslinger,” Big Youth, the deejay and toastmaster responsible for Seventies classics like Dreadlocks Dread and Natty Cultural Dread, teams with the renowned Sly & Robbie, Studio One guitar great Ernest Ranglin and producer Youth for their version of Rob Jevons’ Morricone-esque remix of the Diddley song.
As Starkey, the...
On “Gunslinger,” Big Youth, the deejay and toastmaster responsible for Seventies classics like Dreadlocks Dread and Natty Cultural Dread, teams with the renowned Sly & Robbie, Studio One guitar great Ernest Ranglin and producer Youth for their version of Rob Jevons’ Morricone-esque remix of the Diddley song.
As Starkey, the...
- 5/13/2019
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
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