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Mick Sleeper
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|  | What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Thread Started on Dec 7, 2007, 7:17pm » | |
If I posted the same question over at B&F, I'd surely get flamed, so I'll ask it here: what's the deal with Jah Shaka?
I know he runs a popular sound system and is also a producer. I keep on meaning to buy some of his albums, but never get around to it (suggestions welcome).
But why do some people feel the need to idolize this man and wonder what kind of can opener he uses so that they can buy the same can opener, too?
And what is a "stepper"?
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #1 on Dec 7, 2007, 7:22pm » | |
his first name is Jah, mick
what else do you need to know?
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The Favorite
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #2 on Dec 7, 2007, 7:25pm » | |
i think it's partly because people like to say Jah Shaka
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #3 on Dec 7, 2007, 8:02pm » | |
Sleeper, no disrespect intended, but hasn't this been discussed ad infinitum on b&f? 
It should really be renamed the Shaka Killers board or somesuch.
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Mick Sleeper
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #4 on Dec 7, 2007, 8:07pm » | |
Okay, I'll stick with the same can opener I've had for years then.
I've probably answered my own question... So he is what I figure he is and all of the "Shakaites" are just over zealous reggae fans with a case of hero worship?
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #5 on Dec 7, 2007, 8:17pm » | |
Only saw him in session once a few years ago and although it really was a nice night out, I never felt that 'something' Shaka is supposed to add. Good tunes that included some nice recent JA ones at the time too, but not very memorable when I look back now. Must say I've enjoyed Rodigan in session more.
As for Shaka productions, I especially rate the Hits From The House Of Shaka LP.
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #7 on Dec 7, 2007, 8:44pm » | |
THERES A REGGAE SAUCE CALLED SHAKA SHAKA SAUCE
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skunkride
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #8 on Dec 7, 2007, 8:48pm » | |
ANYWAY THE DEAL WITH SHAKA REALLY IS THAT HE PLAYS SO MANY SHAKA KILLERS
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #9 on Dec 7, 2007, 8:59pm » | |
Here's a daft, related question. I've never gotten into this Jah Shaka thing (mainly because I've hardly heard any of it), but do you pronounce "Shaka" as "Shakka" (short "a" sound) or "Shaker" (long "a" sound)??
I've always assumed the former, but have never heard anyone actually say it...
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #10 on Dec 7, 2007, 9:30pm » | |
Shaka (sometimes spelled Tshaka, Tchaka or Chaka; ca. 1787 ca. 22 September 1828) was a Zulu leader.
He is widely credited with transforming the Zulu tribe from a small clan into the beginnings of a nation that held sway over the large portion of Southern Africa between the Phongolo and Mzimkhulu rivers. His military prowess and destructiveness have been widely credited. One Encyclopædia Britannica article (Macropaedia Article "Shaka" 1974 ed) asserts that he was something of a military genius for his reforms and innovations. Other writers take a more limited view of his achievements. Nevertheless, his statesmanship and vigour in assimilating some neighbours and ruling by proxy marks him as one of the greatest Zulu chieftains.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaka
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steverice
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #11 on Dec 7, 2007, 10:02pm » | |
i have posed similar questions over there and been attacked as you decribe...i know very little about him other than what his fervent admirers say...apart from play records he has his "works"..what they are i don't know...i no longer have any interest in the subject and aas far as i can see if you idolize a person in the way he is idolised then you are about as lost as you can get.
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #12 on Dec 7, 2007, 10:10pm » | |
Quote:
i think it's partly because people like to say Jah Shaka
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Ya, that's a fun one to say --- but not as much fun as saying Zoki --- just try and say Zoki a bunch of times real fast and tell me you don't start smiling. It really is a fun name, just like Ekki.
Now what I want to know --- why does Shaka always place his turntable so high up? Seems like it would be a terribly uncomfortable way to change/cue up/center a record...
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #13 on Dec 7, 2007, 10:36pm » | |
Quote:
Now what I want to know --- why does Shaka always place his turntable so high up? |
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it's not that high -- he just comes in a little low (he represents the lollipop guild)
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nz.mikey
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #14 on Dec 8, 2007, 12:41am » | |
"Now what I want to know --- why does Shaka always place his turntable so high up? "
I presumed it was to stop people label-checking.
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #15 on Dec 8, 2007, 8:08am » | |
It's a very strange phenomena (Shaka idolizing). Like an attitude imported wholesale from a different culture.
Take King Tubby, Lee Perry or Don Drummond for example, they might be 'idolized' by some, but on a completely different vibe (and for better reasons. It stems more from a feeling of deep appreciation than a 'spice girls' vibe).
I only saw him once, and was not that impressed. I now wonder if he himself nurtures this attitude in any way.
In fact, the B&F board is becoming increasingly similar to DHR.
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #16 on Dec 8, 2007, 10:22am » | |
It's like the parable of a finger pointing at the moon.
Shaka is trying to inspire, or at least provoke thought about certain things. For a lot of people (me included) the message is of more value than the music over time.
It's not his fault if he spends his life pointing at Africa but some people choose to focus their microscopes on his finger.
This brief wikipedia entry sums it up quite well I think:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jah_Shaka
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #17 on Dec 8, 2007, 11:48am » | |
I know its easy to knock the cult that has been built around Shaka but that has nothing to do with the man himself or his soundsystem.
In the early 80's when sounds were off-loading there roots credentials or simply closing for business and new sound like saxon started to carry the swing with a new sound, Shaka stuck to his principles and stuck to the roots music that had established him as the undisputed Champion of sound in the mid to late 70,s. Dwindling crowds did not make him change his direction. At this time some white youth who had got into reggae from their punk days started to attend the dances. Youths like RussD, Jah Warrior, Dougie Conscious... Also youths like John &Christine( later of Alpha & Omega) all later developing there own sounds directly inspired by the sound of Shaka. This is the key point in relation to the UK sound that has become an inspiration for sounds in the UK and throughout Europe and beyond. I have heard RussD comment on hte fact that he has cut dubs for a Jamaican sound that deals in the UK sound. Hope this helps with your understanding of the importance of the sound in Reggae culture.
As for a recommendation Shakas catelogue is vast. For a sense of the dubs he holds I would recommend the Dub Masters Volume 1 which is hard to get as it has long been deleted but crops up on Ebay from time to time. His own music is easily accessible and any of the Dub Commandments would be as good a place as any to start.
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #18 on Dec 8, 2007, 11:51am » | |
i have nothing against the guy but wonder why there seems to be some many Shaka killers around : do people think they will kill with black plastic discs ?
This cult is ridiculous, i believe it came from people who just couldn't get a grasp on modern dancehall, a sort of backlash...And as some people are always in desperate need of following an icon, herald and stuff...
Then again, i've never attended any of his sessions, saw some on video , heard some recordings, maybe i miss something about the craze. He does play good tunes but so do many others.
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kas
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #19 on Dec 8, 2007, 12:20pm » | |
Didn't know about his work in Africa. Much respect to him and his foundation for that.
I hope those shaka-ites would contribute to that too.
Seems the Shaka cult followers are fairly young. And the young need their icons I suppose.
I've had two of Shaka's albums - one of the Commandments of Dub series, which I've sold since, and his "Dub Symphony" on Island, which is OK digi dub, though nothing that special.
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #20 on Dec 8, 2007, 1:52pm » | |
I saw Shakka once about 10yrs ago when I'd just started listening to reggae.
I didn't know anything about him but the tunes were HEAVY... fairly mind blowing... and agonisingly loud - the venue had poor acoustics that magnified the volume in an unpleasant way and the crowd was slim and it was so loud after an hour I had to leave before my ear drums started bleeding... the tunes were incredible, however...
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #21 on Dec 8, 2007, 10:28pm » | |
Quote:| It's like the parable of a finger pointing at the moon. |
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Bruce Lee right?
Or is it an older story that he alludes to in the film. I read your post a couple of hours ago and its been bugging me where I'd heard of that before. Got it now. Right, after all that exertion, I need a rest.
And another drink.
Respect
Baldy
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nz.mikey
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #22 on Dec 9, 2007, 12:44am » | |
Quote:
Steppers = 4-to-the-floor-kick
Some examples:
Exit/No Entry - Augustus Pablo/Gussie Clarke
Bubbling Fountain - Dennis Brown
Niney The Observer - Mutiny
Naggo Morris - Jah Guide
Watty Burnett - Open The Gate
Dennis Brown - Slavedriver
Jr Delgado - Famine
Heptones - Money Money Money
Heptones - Mount Zion
Johnny Clarke - Play Fool Fi Get Wise
Revolutionaries - Don't Trouble Trouble
Earl 16 - The World Has Just Begun
Johnny Clarke - Babylon
Ras Imru - Marshall (the original Shaka 12")
Lee Perry - Vampire (Black Art 7" cut)
Johnny Clarke - Blood Dunza
Russ Disciples site has a good deal of info on steppers tunes:
http://www.disciplesbslbm.co.uk/top10a.html
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kas
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #23 on Dec 9, 2007, 12:43pm » | |
The "finger pointing at the moon" thing is an old zen parable I think.
About how young acolytes cling to the words of their master instead of opening themselves up to the direct experience. Or something in that direction...
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #24 on Dec 9, 2007, 5:45pm » | |
Jah Shaka is one of those figures whose productions and sound I respect more than throw-down-just-gotta-play-every day, but I did like the one set I saw of his @ SNWMF; personally, I rather enjoyed how he threw his fingers in the air to the music(I'm used to people waving theirs like they just don't care, but no matter), and as always the posts here gives me the insights of those having more exposure to the subject at hand than I have.
Bet I got way more records of Bobby Womack than Shaka does tho'....
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I
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #25 on Dec 9, 2007, 6:34pm » | |
Back in the early 1970s when I first attended Shaka dances, Shaka was just another youth sound system playing the same kind of sounds as other sound systems. This lasted right up until the early 1980s. Every Friday night I used to go see Shaka at Club Noreik in Tottenham, usually leaving the dance at 6am or whenever it got light, or Phebes in Stokie. The only difference then between Shaka and other sounds was that Shaka had a younger and dreader audience, all those small Rasses with carved ites, gold and green sticks. He would play Black Uhuru, Twinkles, Johnny Clarke, Upsetter, loads of different stuff. The big turnover was in the mid-1980s when Shaka was playing Ashwin Street in Dalston just over the road from Club Labyrinth (the old Four Aces). Some of the crusties from Labyrinth would arrive at Shaka when the other club closed its doors. That's when the Dougies, the Disciples and other young white guys began checking Shaka. By this time all the other sounds had shut shop: Dees had gone, Fatman had split up, with Unity taking their crowd, Shelly and D'Nunes were gone, Lloydie Coxsone was in prison. Only Shaka was still playing the kind of PNP 1970s music that had since been superseded by the JLP sounds of Phang, Lawes and the rest. Man like Russ and Lol had been excited by reggae in the 1970s but had never gone to black dances. Shaka was the first sound to have white people, then Japanese, attending on a regular basis. After the dub club opened, Shaka became the preferred sound of white people. I don't really know why, probably because it was white people who were still buying 1970s roots and ignoring the digital style of the 1980s. All these so-called "Shaka killers" were invented by Dougie and other white folk who quickly latched on to the simple sounds Shaka played as though they were works of the oracle. Personally, I can remember Shaka playing relatively "commercial" stuff like Byles' 'Curly Locks', Horse Mouth's 'Herb Vendor', common Johnny Clarke tunes such as 'Move Out A Babylon'. However, I've never seen Dougie list any of these as "Shaka killers" because he doesn't even realise that Shaka played music like this. Basically, "Shaka killers" are a white man inverted snobbery look at the wide field of reggae music.
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dubbindub
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #26 on Dec 9, 2007, 7:48pm » | |
With respect Scotty you cannot argue with Shaka's credentials as the number 1 sound. It had more to do with the fact that he had more exclusive dubs then any other sounds not the fact the crowd was younger and more dread. This is born out by the fact that he was still being namechecked by leading players like Saxon in the 80's as the only other sound that they respected.
I am glad you put "commercial" between the raised hands because its a meaningless statement. Popular tunes might be a better way of putting it but Shaka played and still plays whatever takes his fancy. BTW I remember Dougie commenting on the old B&F board about these characters from France who were using the Shaka Killer phrase to sell quite ordinary or common products and managing to fool an unknown public. He saw that it worked with regards to getting a higher price on Ebay and used it himself. So "Shaka Killers" is not " a white mans inverted snobbery" but an advertising slogan for commercial success. I don't think people have a problem with that, although when dealing with sufferers music it is not something I could be comfortable doing.
However in your summary you have missed out on the key issue in relation to Shaka and that is the Disciples who took up the banner and were inspired to create music that was drawn from attending his dances. 13 or 14 years ago I was enjoying the freshness of the music of Disciples, Alpha &Omega, Conscious Sounds, Aba-Shanti, Henry & Louis, Gaffa and countless others. In some cases there were hybrids but the steppers rhythm was the heartbeat of this unique UK sound. I reckon a lot of the problems that some people had was that this was white people operating in a blackman's space. People like Dr. Lez Henry have since written quite negatively about the changes in the dance when youthman started to dread up , I think rainbow dreads was a term that was used. To be honest I find his and others smack of an inverted racism if there can be such a thing. Lets face it young aspiring producers had to fight tooth and nail to get there tunes heard, how many youth at a shaka dance to you think would have screamed "haul up and come again to Disciples plates that Shaka was running if they new that the Guys behind the music were a couple of white lads from Surrey? Given the situation it is not surprising that a whole culture has built up throughout Europe of Shaka inspired musicians and producers who formed niches for themselves within a sub-culture of a sub- culture that is the regggae music world. This is the world of the Shakalite.
Furthermore your remarks about Dougie are quite disparaging. I have been with you in his Studio in Dalston and I remember one of the first things he did was offer you an assignment to write up the liner notes for the Kenny Knots album that was pending at the time. I have met Dougie a good few times over the last 15 years or so and he is quite knowledgable about tunes and particularly able when it comes to discussing Shaka. Respect where it is due eh?
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #27 on Dec 9, 2007, 7:58pm » | |
Regardless of the discussion going on here, a new and great word has emerged:
'Shakalite'.
As in:
"This is the world of the Shakalite."
See above.
Possibly as in:
Acolyte?
or
Bud Lite?
Rob
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| | Re: What's the deal with Jah Shaka?
« Reply #28 on Dec 9, 2007, 8:55pm » | |
Quote:Regardless of the discussion going on here, a new and great word has emerged:
'Shakalite'.
As in:
"This is the world of the Shakalite."
See above.
Possibly as in:
Acolyte?
or
Bud Lite?
Rob |
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Probably as in 'The Shakalites Play Original Shka' 
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