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Debate & reception

DebateContested

Who gets remembered: sound, selector or artist?

One side

Artist fame

The other

Sound-system labor memory

What was argued

Sound-system history often celebrates headline artists, but selectors, operators, box men, tape sellers and local promoters made the scene work. This item flags a research balance problem rather than settling it.

The records this concerns

King Stur Gav Hi-FiBass OdysseySound-system selectorVolcano Hi-Power

Debate

Dubplates on the air: wider exposure for the artist, or a broken promise to the sound that paid for it?

One side

Radio exposure that spreads a sound's reputation

The other

Eroding the paid-for exclusivity of a dubplate special

A dubplate special is commissioned exclusively for one sound system, and sound-system etiquette holds that an artist should not undercut that exclusivity by voicing the same lyrics for a rival before a clash. Radio play of a dubplate raises a related, longstanding tension: airing a special can introduce it, and the sound that owns it, to a mass audience, but it can also drain the very exclusivity the commissioning sound paid for. Selectors and stations differ on where the line sits. Neutral framing; no verdict.

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