Can't Stop Won't Stop Pt2

Can't Stop Won't Stop by Jeff Cheong is a book about the history of hiphop. In the end of the book, there are music suggestions, divided by "parts" aka chapters of the book.

Part 1 of the book didn't have music suggestions attached to it. My guess rn is that he wanted to paint a picture of what was life like in Bronx in the 1970s, then touch up on the reggae roots of hiphop (where I'm now, part 2) and in part 3 they're gonna actually "invent" hiphop...

These are my notes on the music suggestions of Part 2. They're very random and written in the course of several months. I only listened to the albums I could find on Spotify - when we get to hiphop albums I'll be a bit more thorough, and will probably write a separate post about each album, but for Part 2, random notes about the albums and songs that made me think of something to say, will do.

The music

Augustus Pablo's Thunder Clap sounds like Bill Withers' Ain't No Sunshine? Something similar in the melody?? Ain't No Sunshine came out 1971 and Thunder Clap in 1979. 

The beginning of Lightning flash had the same melody!

In general, I liked Augustus Pablo. I don't yet know if it's roots reggae in general that's like this, or just Mr Pablo, but it sounds more melacholic and more taking a stand societally and politically than the reggae I've heard in the past.

I'm a bit surprised I like this so much. I was maintly listening to it to get a good idea of where hiphop started forming from. But this is very vibe-y, kinda like The Doors (which actually pre-dates this, but anyway). Reggae is closer to jazz and blues than I thought it was, musically. Some of this may even be The Vibe. I have to listen to it again to be sure, but yeah... It's the bass, and the melancholy.

I've heard someone cover All Day All Night by Bob Marley, but I don't remember who...

I was stuck on Bob Marley for weeks... I just feel like I heard him enough at school music lessons already and know what his music is not for me... Respect the heck out of the man, though.

What I'm starting to notice listening to this, is that reggae can be literally about any topic. It shouldn't come as a surprise to me, but it does. Somehow, that was not the impression I had about it before. It sounds like chill holiday vibes, but they can still be talking about a person being killed or a serious societal issue in the song... And still I can't shake the holiday vibes. I think it's the metalhead in me? Metal can also be about anything, like societal issues, a suicide, or your cat or a food recipe (yes, these are all actual songs I'm thinking about) and metalheads will still headbang if the song sounds headbang-y. Reggae will forever be chill holiday vibes for me, even if the song is about a mass genocide. Actually, even more if it is. Because then I can also enjoy the great lyricism and important message while I chill with a drink in my hand.

Case in point, I really liked Bunny Wailer's Armagideon. Sonically, more interesting than the rest of the album, and great lyricism. Almost put it on The Vibe, but it's maybe a tad too cheerful (sonically) for that list. It'd stand out.

I like The Heptones. They're a lot more vocal-heavy than many of the albums I heard before them. I'm not really a fan of albums full of dubs, where there are no vocals at all. Reggae as a music style isn't really my thing, but when the vocals showcase the vocalist's talent and the lyrics speak to me, there are exceptions. 

Jacob Miller ft. Red Rat - Your Kiss Is Sweet surprised me! Red Rat is basically rapping! I googled and this album came out in 1999, so rap was already very much a thing, so I guess it isn't that surprising, but... I've listened to about 18 albums of reggae before this for this blog post and this is the first time I've heard anything resembling rap. That's why I'm reading this book. I want to get to know the roots of hiphop. And I'm a perfectionist.

I also like Here I Am Baby, it makes me wanna dance! Different genre, but still reminds me of Mambo No. 5 by Lou Bega.

What I've also learned thus far in my journey through this book is that I don't like dubs. All their albums are full of dubs, and it's just one beat over and over again, and the only way to tell one dub apart from another is what song title they repeat every couple of minutes while the beat is playing. I do not get it, but clearly other people did, since they kept doing it...

I was surprised I liked Keith Hudson's Nah Skin Up. It's a bit repetitive, but something about his calm demeanor when he says "You make us angry"... Like he's been angry so long he's past the urge to yell at them. He's done. 

Also surprised I kind of liked Lee "Scratch" Perry and The Upsetters' album Super Ape. A tad more versatile than most of the stuff on this list. And I like their lyricism.

Max Romeo & The Upsetters - Chase the Devil borrows from that song before, called Outer Space, or this one borrows from that.

I like Peter Tosh's lyricism. Some of these artists were talking about hair or whatever... I'm sure there's some deeper meaning in those songs as well, you know, but I do not understand it. I'm not sure about this genre - protest songs are clearly a big part of this, but who are they directed at? Fellow African and Jamaican people or the white people? Because it could be either - it could be a song for them, to find solidarity within other people who face the same problems as them, or it could be directed at us, a call for action, to stand with them.

Closing thoughts

I'm glad I did this, even though it took me literally months. I feel like this has been very educational, in a "quiet" way... Does that expression make sense in English..? What "hiljainen tieto" or "quiet knowledge" means is that one has definitely learned something, but it's not something they can put into words and explain to other people with words. Things like comedic timing, public speaking or parenting are great examples of things that cannot be taught by other people 100%, you just gotta do it yourself enough to get good at it.
Similarly, I feel like I "get" roots reggae a lot better know than I did before making this post. Sure, sonically it's too cheery and they make way too many dubs and I still don't get why, but as a whole, I have a much better understanding of the genre now than before listening to dozens of albums of it.