EXPLORE
Browse the whole archive
One index for everything published: records, stories, watchable media, community memories and places. 85 records match.
Ivorian economic capital where Alpha Blondy was discovered on the television talent show First Chance and recorded his breakthrough album Jah Glory, establishing the city as a launching point for Ivorian reggae alongside Tiken Jah Fakoly’s early career.
place · Well supportedAccompongThe Maroon community in the Cockpit Country of St Elizabeth, founded under the 1739 treaty, and the site of the annual January 6 celebration marking it. Abeng blowing, Kromanti drumming and song are central to the observance — a living link to the music that predates every commercial form on the island.
place · ProbableBell Road, Greenwich Farm, KingstonA Greenwich Farm street cited in sound-system history as the location associated with Coxsone Dodd's early operations and West Kingston dance culture.
place · Well supportedBelmont, WestmorelandCoastal village in Westmoreland that is the birthplace and burial place of Wailers co-founder Peter Tosh, now a pilgrimage point on the south-west coast.
place · Well supportedBenin City, NigeriaEdo State capital where the reggae group Jastix formed in the early 1980s, launching Majek Fashek and Ras Kimono, making it a founding hub of Nigerian reggae alongside Lagos.
place · Well supportedBluefields, WestmorelandBluefields Bay area on Westmoreland's south coast adjoining Belmont; part of the 'Peter Tosh country' stretch and a site of community reggae events at Bluefields Beach Park.
place · Well supportedBrixton, LondonSouth London district that became the heart of Black British life after Windrush-era Caribbean settlement, incubating blues dances, record shops and the UK lovers-rock sound.
place · ProbableBull Bay (Bobo Hill / Bobo Ashanti), St Andrew/St ThomasA coastal community east of Kingston at Bull Bay, site of Bobo Hill, headquarters of the Bobo Ashanti (Ehtiopia Africa Black International Congress) Rastafari mansion whose Nyabinghi drumming and chant traditions influenced roots reggae.
place · ProbableCarib Theatre, Cross Roads, KingstonA large cinema/performance venue at Cross Roads that has hosted major concerts and film premieres and is a fixture of Kingston's entertainment history.
place · Well supportedCatherine Hall, Montego Bay, St JamesThe Catherine Hall Entertainment Complex in Montego Bay is the home venue of Reggae Sumfest, Jamaica's premier annual reggae/dancehall festival, drawing international audiences each summer.
place · Well supportedCharles Town, Portland (Windward Maroons)Windward Maroon settlement near Buff Bay in Portland that safeguards Kromanti drumming, abeng-blowing, singing and the annual Quao Day festival honouring Captain Quao.
place · ProbableChocomo Lawn, Wellington Street, KingstonA famed downtown Kingston dance lawn (open-air venue) that hosted sound-system dances and stage shows in the ska and reggae eras, one of the archetypal "lawn" venues central to Jamaica's dance culture.
place · Well supportedCoventry, West MidlandsWest Midlands city where Jerry Dammers taught himself ska from Jamaican records in a flat on Albany Road, Earlsdon, in 1977, laying the groundwork for 2 Tone Records and the Specials; the city's ska heritage is now marked by a dedicated 2 Tone museum.
place · ProbableCross Roads, Kingston/St AndrewA busy junction between downtown and uptown Kingston, home to cinemas and record outlets (including the Carib Theatre nearby) that featured in the city's live-music and film-and-sound-clash circuit.
place · ProbableDenham Town, West KingstonA West Kingston community adjacent to Tivoli Gardens and Trench Town, part of the corridor of neighbourhoods that produced sound systems and reggae/dancehall artists.
