Sly & Robbie

Bass ace Robbie Shakespeare and drum demon Sly Dunbar decided early on that they weren't content to keep reggae where it was, so they changed the way the music moved time and time again. Their story really started with the Mighty Diamonds' milestone "Right Time," where Sly switched up the standard "one drop" groove with some quick-fingered stick work. Before long, the rhythm team was in demand everywhere — propelling the platters of roots-reggae rulers like Peter Tosh ("Wanted Dread and Alive") and Culture ("Two Sevens Clash"), blending rock and reggae behind Bob Dylan's "Jokerman," and getting funky for Grace Jones' dance-floor smash "Pull Up To The Bumper." Sly & Robbie even took dancehall in a new direction, with the salty 'n' sweet pairing of Chaka Demus & Pliers on the game-changing hit "Murder She Wrote."

Sly & Robbie set the pace for punk-funk, rocksteady, and more, in Next Steps.

Part of Sly & Robbie's rhythmic genius was their gift for shifting into different gears without losing their essential, undeniable groove. One moment, they might be pumping out an old-school rocksteady rhythm while Bunny Wailer revisits early Wailers tune "Mellow Mood"; the next they're giving Otis Redding's soul staple "(I've Got) Dreams to Remember" a Kingston kick with Maytals main man Toots Hibbert. But they journeyed beyond Jamaica, too, pouring out some punk-funk riffs for Ian Dury's "Spasticus Autisticus," and helping Black Uhuru kick off a new U.K. reggae revolution with the big-bottomed bounce of "Sponji Reggae."

Roots-reggae rulers and soul sensations sidle up to Sly & Robbie in Deep Cuts.

When you've got a rep for rhythm like Sly & Robbie, you spend your time deciding which musical legend not to work with next. After narrowing those decisions down, the deep-grooving duo dropped in on British soul man Joe Cocker to bring a little Jamaican jump to his Sheffield Steel tune "Sweet Little Woman." They formed a bottom-end brotherhood with legendary Wailers bassist Aston "Family Man" Barrett, and together the trio rub-a-dubbed it up on "Rock Me In Dub." In 2008, Sly & Robbie were still taking reggae to the next level, along with the heavyweight Hasidic MC Matisyahu — together, they move through at least three or four different feels on "Two Child One Drop" alone.

Calling Sly Dunbar & Robbie Shakespeare a "rhythm section" is like calling William Shakespeare — no relation — a "scribbler." It doesn't even begin to encompass the ways in which these men have shaped their medium. They've reinvented the reggae groove multiple times over the years, backing such icons as I Roy and Dennis Brown, and helping to pump up the popularity of everyone from Black Uhuru to Chaka Demus & Pliers. They've delved into dub, dancehall, roots, and more, but they've also ventured beyond reggae, providing the pulse for pop and rock artists like Bob Dylan, Joan Armatrading, and Britney Spears. As producers, they've created a kind of cottage industry with their Taxi project as well as helming such hits as No Doubt's blockbuster "Hey Baby." How do you get a handle on such a towering stack of sounds? By tuning in to the true must-haves of Sly & Robbie's floor-shaking story, which we just happen to have pulled together for you here.