Digital Reggae

It all began, in 1985, when Wayne Smith and his friend Noel Bailey began messing around with a preset drum rhythm (based on Eddie Cochran's rock 'n' roll classic "Something Else") on a Casio keyboard — then took the sound to King Jammy's studio, where it was further finessed by keyboardist Tony Asher into "Under Me Sleng Teng". And, lo, digital reggae was born . . .

Find out what else happened when Jamaica met the computer, in Next Steps.

In pioneering digital reggae tracks lay the seeds of ragga and dancehall. One of the most important artists of the digital revolution was Admiral Bailey, who laid down "Punnany" with King Jammy (a protégé of King Tubby). And it's not only Ali G who owes Bailey a debt, as a listen to Shabba Ranks' "Love Punany Bad" confirms. Less slack, but no less influential, was Josey Wales ("The General").

Continue your synth-driven reggae odyssey in Deep Cuts.

The bassy, synthesised rumble that backs all the best digital reggae tracks lends itself to strong lyrical material — Lady Junie pulls no punches on "Tell You What Police Can Do". Neither does Cutty Ranks' catalogue of weaponry, "Gunman Lyrics", recorded for the Techniques label run by Winston Riley, mastermind behind the Stalag riddim (as heard on Overton "Scientist" Brown's "Scientists").

February 23, 1985, Waltham Park Road, Jamaica — the time and place may not ring a bell for the casual reggae fan, but the significance for these Essentials cannot be overlooked, because it was then and there that digital reggae exploded onto the island scene. The occasion was a sound clash between King Jammy and Black Scorpio, at which "Under Me Sleng Teng" diverted the course of dub and reggae into ragga and dancehall. Many varieties of that landmark theme followed (cue up a comparative blast of John Wayne's "Call the Police" or Pinchers' "Agony"), so utterly addictive is the hook.