Dancehall reggae feels like summer. To bring some of that sunshine into these dark days of quarantine, I live-streamed this set of Singjay Rubadub on 4/18/20.
Early in the Jamaican dancehall scene the disk jockey (DJ) and the master of ceremonies (MC) on the microphone were often the same person. So in dancehall, MCs are known as DJs, and just as rappers rap, DJs toast over the music. Many of those toasters elevated their rhythmic rapping to melodic heights approaching, but different from singing; a style that became known as “singjay.” This mix documents some of those singjays as they toast over tunes reverent of the earlier golden age of '70s rub-a-dub reggae.
