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The Foxgrove

February 13, 2016

British reggae and the history of UK sound system culture

by Natalie Lam


foxgrove-british-sound-system-culture.jpg
foxgrove-british-sound-system-culture.jpg

By Marianna Nash

Sound system culture built modern music… literally. So what is it?

Brought to the UK by Caribbean immigrants in the 1940s, sound systems were monolithic, custom-built speaker systems capable of producing ground-shaking bass. By the 1980s, British reggae artists had created their own unique sound using the systems. Jamaican artists would even travel to the UK to hear it for themselves.

"It's the equivalent of if you invented a country-and-western scene in Yorkshire, and Willie Nelson thought you were doing OK,” music historian John Masouri told the BBC last month.

Read more: The underground sound systems of the UK’s reggae scene

Soak in more music culture and learn to make a track, try our introduction to music production class here at The Foxgrove.

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This gem is brought to you by The Hunt, The Foxgrove's blog that looks into the electronic music and DJ world in the lenses of fashion, lifestyle, art and culture. If you'd like to contribute, find us at info@thefoxgrove.com.

 

TAGS: British, sound system, culture, history


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