Junior Toots - Music

Real reggae only comes from Jamaica. Don't get me wrong, the music that ends up making it's way to far-off places like the U.S. or the U.K. is swell, but unless the artist was born, raised, and/or cut his teeth in the homeland in or around Kingston, it's cool but it's not the genuine deal. I enjoy Hawaiian reggae and the American bands that I've heard throughout my career as a second-rate rock journalist, but when I listen to cuts from dudes like Peter Tosh, Junior Murvin or from groups like Burning Spear...it's like comparing light sockets to lightning bolts.

That's not to bash other artists who aren't blessed enough to be performing anywhere near the city of Kingston. Hey, if you are rockin' roots reggae as hard as you can somewhere out of a smokey bar in Tokyo, Japan, go for it. But reggae, like punk music, demands that it either have an air of authenticity, or be heir to some real authenticity, otherwise anyone listening to the genre can tell instantly that it's garbage. If you hear bad reggae, it's probably the jingle to an obnoxious ad campaign, and that's not music...that's Babylon, man.

It does not get more OG reggae than Junior Toots, who had named his own style "original roots." The artist knows all about the term because he was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, and his father is no one else than the legendary Toots Hibbert of the band Toots and the Maytals. If you didn't know that the father of Junior Toots is responsible for the name of the genre (1968's Do the Reggay by Toots and the Maytals made the term so popular it became permanent), now you do.

Junior Toots has walked well in the footsteps of his elders. One of his early albums, Reggae Got Soul, is a far more sophisticated, far more sublime work of reflexive skill than you'd expect from some young dude who hasn't had enough life experience to be that good just yet. You can tell that the man didn't just hear the conversation, music and teachings of the older artists that undoubtedly affected his early interest in music...he listened, too.

The lineage of reggae goes back all the way to Africa. If you listen, too, you can hear the same rhythms, melodies and up-tempo beats you'd find in modern American rock and roll, including artists that took ska and ran with it like The Police or Operation Ivy (ok, Op Ivy is more ska-core than anything else, but you get my point). Junior Toots has got something sweet with his own original roots sound, which is a smooth yet sophisticated composition of roots-reggae, ska and dancehall.

Any great artist takes the music around him and makes it his (or her) own, whether it's a fundamental tweak, a stylistic interpretation, or some other unique characteristic. You know what I mean...AC/DC and the Rolling Stones are both rock and roll bands, but when you compare them to each other the differences are obvious. Led Zeppelin is technically rock and roll, too, but they went to places other bands that call themselves rock and roll have never gone.

While Toots has a personal charisma that shines through his sound and underlines its uniqueness, he still knows what makes reggae good. His father, Toots Hibbert, spent a lot of time with his son while recording music with his band in Kingston, and the influence was a positive one. “I went to rehearsals and studio recording sessions when I was really young," he says. "I also recorded some music with him at an early age so the music is in my blood.”

Junior Toots demonstrates this sanguine sonic connection all throughout his new album, A Little Bit of Love. The album is certainly worth touring over. His personal combination of philosophy and reggae are on perfect display here, with tracks like "Puss and Dog," a quietly clever song about both being as fast and wise as a cat, so you don't end up in jail. Part of that strategy also involves keeping the peace by knowing when to run, something any street player can understand.

Another track, "Physically Spiritually," is a pure message of togetherness the world needs to hear, more. A sweet song, it preaches the wonder of diversity and the miracle of unity. “We need to encourage each other to do well and to stay healthy, mentally, physically and spiritually,” Toots says. Love is a big feature of reggae, and it's always cool to have something positive to play for the party.

You can tell from his songs and interviews that Junior Toots is an artist influenced as much by his benevolence as he is by the desire to make a living playing reggae. He likes to create what he calls, "conscious music."  “When I say conscious music, I mean my lyrics are aware of the needs of everyone: The need to be connected to nature and to other cultures besides your own," Toots says. "I hope my music encourages people to put away their egos and make intentions to heal, to love, and to care. Conscious means to come together.”

You can buy A Little Bit of Love right here.

Lionize - Music

Nate Bergman is the guitarist and vocalist for Lionize, a band that plays music that’s hard to define but easy to enjoy. The group’s songs feature elements of stoner rock and hard metal, guided by a reggae/funk spirit that leads the listener into groovy realms previous groups have never tried to go to, challenging the listener’s preconceived notions.

This original sound is possible because of the band’s independence from the mainstream, which has served it well throughout its career. Left to its own compass, the band has journeyed far, touring the world with similarly exotic groups like Ozomatli and CKY, and playing and recording in Kingston, Jamaica, a locus of reggae culture. Lionize will be making a stop at the Fox Theater in Pomona this week supporting Streetlight Manifesto and Reel Big Fish.

Guitarist-vocalist Nate Bergman is having a good time on the tour. “It’s been great. We just got finished playing a show in New Orleans last night. That place is one of our favorite cities.” After the performance, the group enjoyed the town’s legendary night life.

“It was great to go out and enjoy the scene. It seems like the place has really started to come back from the hurricane.”

Not afraid of the eclectic, the band’s latest album is called Superczar and the Vulture. Bergman explains the title. “The name really stems from some lyrics in the record which deal with kind of a larger-than-life group of characters. It’s a fantasy, like pulp fiction.”

“At the time Henry [Upton], our bass player, wrote a lot of the lyrics and he was really into politicians like Vladimir Putin, and how wild foreign politics can be with these larger-than-life heads of states.”

While the title, Superczar and the Vulture, is wacky, Bergman assures me it’s only a title. “It’s just a fantasy piece, there’s no message behind it.”

Lionize recorded its latest album in a different manner than usual. First, the band composed the songs and spent months rehearsing before going into the studio to record the album. The polishing and perfecting paid off . . . the final creation has an organic energy technology can’t replace.

“It took about 10 days to record,” Bergman says. “We just got a bunch of takes of us playing. It’s very organic. It’s a great representation of our live show. If you see us play live and listen to our record, it’s the same. There’s no Auto-Tuning or digital enhancement.”

Lionize did a lot of homework to make sure the album is all-natural, something Bergman believes every musician should aspire to.

“I think artists really need to get away from everything being processed and compressed. You see a band play live and they don’t live up to their recording.”

Playing and recording in Jamaica will always be a very high point for Lionize.

“It was overwhelming in a positive way,” Bergman says. “Everything down there revolves around music and family. Everything we take advantage of up here, down there it’s all they have. It was such a positive experience.”

With so many angles to the band’s music, it doesn’t always fit in, but for Lionize being that original is the perfect fit. Bergman is certainly enjoying it all.

“I think we are always the odd band out. People will pick up on how we’re doing reggae and funk, but then we go on a ska tour and we seem very metal and rock. Wherever we go, we’re a sore thumb.”

Lionize with Streetlight Manifesto, Reel Big Fish and Rodeo Ruby Love at the Fox Theater, 301 S. Garey Ave., Pomona, (909) 784-3671; www.foxpomona.com; www.lionizemusic.com. Thurs, Dec. 22. 7PM. $22.75-$25.

Ozomatli - Music

Ozomatli’s multicultural message crosses all boundaries

Ozomatli is a band native to Los Angeles, and the music they make is the sound and soul of the city: reggae, funk, jazz, salsa, hip-hop, rock, cumbia and the blues. The group’s musical everything-but-the-kitchen-sink arsenal is impressive: guitars, saxophone, bass, tabla, cajon, a trumpet and a marimbula. Established in 1995, Ozomatli continues to travel the world, delivering a message of activism, unity and celebration.

The group became widely known for being outspoken about social justice and progressive politics. Ozomatli performed at the 2000 Democratic National Convention in front of thousands of protesters.

They went on to release their sophomore record (Embrace the Chaos) on Sept. 11, 2001 and toured shortly after when most bands cancelled or postponed show dates. Over the years Ozomatli has gained widespread recognition for its political and diverse music stylings, winning three Grammy Awards along the way.

CityBeat recently spoke with percussionist for the band, Jiro Yamaguchi. Ozomatli recently performed its family-friendly “Ozokids” show last month at The Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana. A children’s album is in the works for release later this year.

What inspired the band’s name?

Originally, we had another name. We weren’t feeling that name, so our original drummer Anton suggested “Ozomatli.” It was actually his birth sign. When we researched the name, we loved what it meant. Ozomatli is the god of dance and music. He’s also a trickster, so it was a perfect fit.

Does the band’s strong political messages ever lead to difficulties?

Right after 9/11 we got into a little trouble because we were against the hate. People asked us why we were touring a few weeks after 9/11 when we played in New York City, but we had so many New Yorkers thanks us for coming out and performing. A lot of hate mail was sent to the New York Post because we were against the war. As time went on, more Americans feel how we felt back then, so it’s different now.

What was it like playing for President Obama?

It was cool. There was a lot of security and Secret Service people, but when we met him, he was down to Earth, very cool. Under the Bush administration, we were asked to be cultural ambassadors to other countries. It was a hard decision to make, but we decided it was better to go out in the world and mingle with people and represent the U.S. and ourselves in a good light.

From what I understand, your band has performed for people all across the globe, including China, South America and Mongolia. What was that like?

We were able to help break down stereotypes on both sides and meet some people all around the world, including Palestine, China, Myanmar . . . We spoke to people who lived in the ghettos of Argentina and New Delhi. No matter where you go, though, people are people wherever you go. That’s a universal theme.

We’ve met musicians all over, and I’ve been inspired by all of the people we’ve met around the world. It doesn’t matter where they come from, I’ve noticed that all children respond the same way to our music, no matter where they come from.

What was the inspiration for a children's album?


We’re recording the album right now. We’ve already done some “Ozokids” tours in San Francisco and Los Angeles. We toured in San Francisco [and] we had a lot of parents thank us for having a show they could bring their shows to, which was encouraging.

Children have always been a big part of our audience. We’ve played for kids all around the world, but now we intend to write lyrics for children with this album. Our music is very interactive. We include the audience in our performance. Our approach is that everyone is part of the experience. The audience is part of the show.

Iration - Music

High on Reggae Surf Culture with Iration

Iration is a reggae-surf-pop-synth band, somewhere between Agent Orange, Bob Marley and Dick Dale. They are a band that creates music that is straight out of Hawaii, where they all grew up, with an aggressive attitude inherit to Southern California, where the band went to college.  Iration plays music that feels like the sun, the waves, the wind and good times close to Mother Nature and the sea.

Bass player Adam Taylor spoke for the band and explained how Iration represents not just a unique type of music, but an expression of life based on a Hawaiian surf culture philosophy with roots in the heart of reggae.

How did Iration begin?


We came together while most of us were going to college at UCSB in Santa Barbara. It was just a hobby but music had always been a part of our lives. At first we played to have fun. We did Bob Marley covers. It was a way to express ourselves. By the time we graduated from college there was a point where we were making enough money playing so we kept going.

What message is Iration trying to express with its music? 


Being from Hawaii, we take the Aloha spirit very seriously. We like to bring a good vibe, a good message that leaves people with a positive feeling. We are a reggae rock band with the fundamentals of reggae music, but with a modern pop twist. We added heavy synth and guitars with more rock but lyrics that were more pop.
Reggae is big in Hawaii…if you listen to the radio it dominates the airwaves. Our first CD was very roots Reggae, but our next album had more of a pop sensibility, “Falling” and “Cookie Jar” did well out there, and they are both different songs.

Explain what surf culture means to you.


Surf culture to me means growing up on the beach. We all surf. We are part of the surf culture. I think it means to live it up in a positive way, like being able to appreciate mother nature and being outdoors. Living in Hawaii, everything you do is affected by the weather. You are more prone to the elements. Most people there love water sports. It’s embedded in each one of us.

The weather and the sunshine are a big part of our music. We are in Florida right now and I love being here. There’s a strong surf culture here. We really feel at home in the coastal cities. When we are in Chicago it feels out of our element since there’s no ocean.

Iration really feels like a live band, unlike a lot of other groups out there.


For us, we started in college when people didn’t know our music, so we all considered ourselves to be a live band. Some bands don’t play well live but we rehearse a lot, we try to connect with the audience on an emotional level. A good band has to connect.

It’s also the way you structure your music. We like to start really strong, bring it down in the middle, and then bring it back up and peak in the end. After that, for an encore we play an acoustic and two popular songs. This is all because we want to play music our fans came out to here. We structure our performances for them. You have to walk between playing what you want to play, and what they want to hear.

On this tour we are covering “Pimpers Paradise” by Bobby Marley and “Bomb Bud” by DJ Quick, which has been a popular song ever since we played it at Cypress Hill’s last SMOKEOUT.

I've noticed more than a few of your songs talk about cannabis.

Living in California I have a lot of access to cannabis. I have such easy access that I don’t have a strong opinion about it. But in Hawaii cannabis is such a big part of the surf culture. Everyone uses it. It’s normal. Cannabis has a lot influence for us.

I smoke out, sure, but not before I go onstage. I smoke out before I play or practice. I have spoken to other musicians who all agree about how it brings out your awareness of music.

We don’t promote it as much in our songs, but the EP “Summer Nights” is about the summertime, smoking weed, going to the beach. On this tour, before we play this song, we tell them about how the song is about smoking out in the summer, and that usually gets a huge reaction from the crowd. I love to smoke at concerts because it really heightens my senses.

Hip-hop and Reggae Week - Commentary

Yes, I have been covering a lot of hip-hop and reggae this week. That is a good thing. Here is some very swank, authentic Jamaican dub for you to enjoy:

As you approach the Gates of Heaven it will sound like this.

Before I go on, a moment of deep appreciation.

I would like to thank everyone, including my friends, for promoting the blog and visiting this part of the Internet. I've only been putting the word out since late September, and it's already gone past 1,000 legitimate pageviews in ten countries around the world including India, France, China, South America, Russia and Poland. 

I promise to use my power wisely.

A very special thanks to hip-hop superhero Montage One, who was ultra-cool in posting a hyperlink to this blog on his own website. You, sir, rock the house.

More thanks to Bay Area hip-hop musicians Jahn the Baptist and Illuminati Congo. They put up a link to my blog on their site as well, and I can't think of a nicer compliment. I very much appreciate it!

A few days ago I interviewed Unity Lewis for Culture Magazine. What a scholar. He schooled me on the connection between hip-hop and reggae, and I got into authentic Jamaican reggae and dub in a much bigger way because of him. The interview will be published in November, and I will certainly post a copy of it over here.

I'm putting together a blog post about an artist from the United Kingdom named Tricky. I've been looking forward to writing about this producer and hip-hop musician, and I promise that his approach to the genre is one worth appreciating for fans of the music.

Until then, here's one of my favorite all-time songs from my hardcore ska days, "Soundsystem" by Operation Ivy, from the album Unity. Thanks to Unity Lewis, I finally understand what the title of the song is referencing.

I always loved ska, hip-hop and reggae, and now I understand how they are all fundamentally connected.

Illuminati Congo - Music

While reggae and hip-hop are enjoyed by many as two different genres of music, the origins of the two are hardly parallel. Chicago hip-hop group Illuminati Congo may have a strong rap exterior, especially with lead vocalist Jahn the Baptist controlling the mic, but the soul of the band is hard Rastafari steel. 

Illuminati Congo's second album, "All Eye See" is an awesome arrangement of audio alchemy that combines musical elements fans across the spectrum can groove to from classic rock, sampled instrumentals, wickedly cool beats, dance-worthy synth arrangements and honest lyrics forged cold and clean from the streets of the Windy City.

"All Eye See" is an album with a huge reggae influence. One element of reggae is known as a dub, where a song is stripped of it's vocals, remixed to amplify the bass & drums, and then sampled extensively. This creates a distinctive reverb sound that inspires images of grooving dancehalls partying all night long under the sweet Jamaican moonlight.

The legendary reggae artist Lee "Scratch" Perry, who is also featured on the album, wields elements like dub with poetic finesse to emphasize his own distinctive sound. Hip-hop heavyweight Cee Knowledge Doodlebug from Diggable Planets is also part of the project, so fans are getting extra gold with "All See Eye." 

Artists would play dubbed-out remixes of their favorite songs on their soundsystems at high volume, and then freestyle the lyrics, improvising to the beat, an art which later became known as "toasting." 

This subgenre ended up in the United States, where it evolved into rap, giving the two genres a common heritage millions of fans across the planet appreciate. 

Producer and DJ Nic the Graduate, a proven veteran of the Chicago music scene, has helped Illuminati Congo to polish a perfect gem, making "All Eye See" an LP for any fan to treasure. Illuminati Congo's second album will be available on November 8, 2011. 

A very special thanks to Bay Area hip-hop artist Unity Lewis for the history lesson he gave me on Jamaican reggae and the relationship between toasting and modern American rap. 

"Fi Mi Nation" by Winstrong - Music

Saying that I enjoy listening to reggae music is like saying I enjoy drinking Coca-Cola, eating cheeseburgers, or the thought of driving a black Porsche Boxster. 

Which means that for me, steering this through a McDonald's drive-thru 

for a Big Mac and a coke is the HOLY TRINITY.

I listen to a lot of music, but my tastes will always be influenced by late-80's/early-90's pop, new wave and punk. That's why some of my favorite bands are groups like Men At Work, The Police and Operation Ivy. 

It's not to say any of the three bands I just mentioned are purely reggae, or any other form of music. After all, Operation Ivy is technically a fusion of punk and ska, a musical genre that is a precursor to reggae. 

The other two bands make great use of musical elements found in the reggae, and we can all agree that most Americans have heard "Roxanne" and "Down Under" one million times, so they must love it. 

Now who do we have to blame for that?

But what made those songs popular was that reggae has been influencing America's favorite hits for decades. The combination of reggae with x is always a formula that's addictive.  

Winstrong's desirable fusion of hip-hop and reggae is both exotic and familiar. He's combining something distinctly American with a form of music that is purely Jamaican, but you can still trace the roots back to an African heritage, just like jazz, blues and rock & roll. 

Ghetto Hymns isn't punk or pop. Winstrong's latest single from the album, "Fi Mi Nation," is about the real world we live in and the particular strength a soul has to have to make it through the journey called life. 

Deep stuff to meditate upon, but Winstrong's reggae influence comes from a distinct cultural heritage of strength and religion, struggle and devotion, so it's no mystery that his music has such a message.

Like Jamaican dancehall and rocksteady hits, "Fi Mi Nation" will make you boogie, but when you listen to the lyrics there's a lot of soul there, and it's the kind of inspiration everyone in the country needs right now.

You can find Winstrong all over Soundcloud and Youtube, but here's a little extra to tide you over. I hope you enjoy this song. It's one of my favorite Winstrong singles, for obvious reasons.