Di Singjay Dem...

Greetings and Love....

I've polished off all of the rolls that Grandma sent home with me, and it's time to start talking about Reggae Music again....

The Singjay is a type of hybridized Reggae vocalist. The genre is named for their unique style, part singer and part DJ.

Combining elements of the raspy "chat" we discussed earlier with traditional Roots-style sung vocals, Singjays cover a very broad range of musical territory.

Singjays are usually very conscious, singing of equal rights and justice, ganja, love, as well as praise to Haile Selassie. (More on Rastafarianism later.)


Though they reference a lot of the same topics as Roots and Kulcha singers do, Singjays often take a more militant stance in their music. For instance, instead of urging the listener to resist the fruits of Babylon, a Singjay would call for the active participation of the listener in the destruction of Babylon.

Controversial statements regarding homosexuality have made many Singjays popular targets for GLAAD and similar groups. Though coarse, I still find their stance to be significantly less offensive than those made every day by the Falwells, Hannitys, and Limbaughs who hatred enjoys mainstream media coverage.

This is perhaps the only smudge on the genre's brilliance, but also seems to be the only fact reported by American music critics. Focusing so feverishly on such a tiny, tiny detail within the genre is wholly unfair. American hip hop artists use of much worse and more ferquest epithets is rarely mentioned by the same critics.

Anyway, allow me to step off of the soap box and onto the toes of the brilliant artists who I'll accidentally omit from the following list:

Some of my favorites include Sizzla Kalonji, Capleton, Buju Banton, Chuck Fenda, Turbulence, and many others.

Here are some video clips that I feel will help understand the genre:

Here's Capleton performing his huge hit "Jah Jah City." The video is admittedly a little silly, but it's a good example of the genre. Listen for very melodic singing and for the throaty chat. Singjays will often use very different vocal textures for different sections within a song. There is plenty of that technique here.



Marvelous, right?

Another of our favorites is Sizzla, who has released more than 40 albums... and he's only like 30 years old....

This is his live performance at the VO 25th Anniversary concert in Miami (the same one at which Elephant Man danced with the little girl - posted below.... scroll on down....)



Sizzla makes crowds go insane... I'm both eager and terrified to see him perform.

Here's another Sizzla clip in which he takes a little more delicate approach to the song. "Thank U Mama" was a big hit in Jamaica, and the video has some of the best production I've seen come from the Jamaican scene...



So sweet... I always check priceline for trips to Jamaica after watching that video.... I want to take a bath by the road... I want to ride the bus with a drum... I want to dance around in a rushing river..... but instead I make some Eggos and pout.

One more? Oh, alright...

Chuck Fenda's "I Swear" was a huge hit on the "5th Element" riddim. This song features both melodic singing and rough chat, so it's a good representation of Singjay vocal performance.



Alright, that's enough for today.

My work permit had better come through soon.... I'm running out of Reggae to blather on and one about....

BLESS UP!!!