Jah Shaka

An uncompromising composer, musician, singer, mixing engineer, producer, record label owner, DJ, proud Rastafarian and operator of what is claimed to be the heaviest sound system in the world, Jah Shaka is a vital roots reggae artist who has influenced many UK reggae acts like The Rootsman, Jah Warriors, The Disciples and Eastern Sher. He was born and grew up in Jamaica, but launched his career after moving to London in the 1970s, styling himself as the Zulu Warrior and building his reputation with a residency at the Phebes Club in Hackney in 1978. In 1980 and 1981 he won the Best Sound System section of the Black Echoes Reggae Awards, and remaining committed to Rastafarianism he has produced a string of highly-praised albums by Norman Grant, Vivian Jones, Max Romeo, Icho Candy, Horace Andy and Prince Alla, while releasing a succession of his own dub records. "The sound came out of the struggle in the 1970s in which black people were going through - we got together and decided that the sound should play a main part in black people's rights and we would work hard at it and promote a better mental purpose within the black race," he said.

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