Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T15:17:59.507Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Soul rebels and dubby conquerors. Reggae and dancehall music in Germany in the 1990s and early 2000s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 December 2017

Martin Pfleiderer
Martin Pfleiderer*
Affiliation:
Institute for Musicology Weimar-Jena, Music University Franz Liszt Weimar, Carl-Alexander-Platz 1, 99425 Weimar, Germany E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In the 1990s, a vibrant reggae and dancehall scene emerged in several German cities, and in the early 2000s songs of reggae artists such as Gentleman, Seeed or Jan Delay rose to the top of the German pop charts. In this article, the German reggae scene of this time is depicted in respect to its formation, infrastructure, transnational relationships and sub-genres, and is related to general social and cultural developments in reunited Germany, e.g. a new national self-consciousness, tendencies towards a multi-ethnic society and new kinds of youth scenes. These findings are illustrated by a close reading of two songs from the seminal albums Searching for the Jan Soul Rebels by Jan Delay and New Dubby Conquerors by Seeed, both released in 2001. While Jan Delay's lyrics reflect the singer's commitment to the antifascist youth scene, Seeed celebrates a hedonistic lifestyle in the new capital Berlin.

Type
Articles
Information
Popular Music , Volume 37 , Issue 1 , January 2018 , pp. 81 - 99
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Barrow, S. 2004. The Rough Guide to Reggae. The Definitive Guide to Jamaican Music from Ska through Roots to Bashment, 3rd edn (London, Rough Guides)Google Scholar
Burkhart, B. 2015. ‘Rhythmus und Mikrotiming in Reggae- und Dancehall-Riddims. Zur Analyse stilspezifischer Gestaltungsweisen und Entwicklungslinien’, Samples, 13. http://www.aspm-samples.de/Samples13/burkhart.pdf (accessed 13 May 2016)Google Scholar
Dietrich, M., and Seeliger, M. (eds) 2012. Deutscher Gangsta-Rap. Sozial- und kulturwissenschaftliche Beiträge zu einem Pop-Phänomen (Bielefeld, Transcript)Google Scholar
Hitzler, R., Bucher, T., and Niederbacher, A. 2001. Leben in Szenen. Formen jugendlicher Vergemeinschaftung heute (Opladen, Leske + Budrich)Google Scholar
Hitzler, R., and Niederbacher, A. 2010. Leben in Szenen. Formen juveniler Vergemeinschaftung heute, 3rd complete revised edn (Wiesbaden, Springer)Google Scholar
Holert, T., and Terkessidis, M. (eds.) 1996. ‘Einführung in den Mainstream der Minderheiten’, in Mainstream der Minderheiten. Pop in der Kontrollgesellschaft, ed. Holert, T. and Terkessidis, M. (Berlin, Amsterdam, Ed. ID-Archiv), pp. 5–20 Google Scholar
Järvenpää, T. 2014. ‘Listening to intergalactic sounds. Articulation of Rastafarian Livity in Finnish roots reggae sound system performances’, Temenos, 50(2), pp. 273–297 Google Scholar
Jones, S. 1988. Black Culture, White Youth. The Reggae Tradition from JA to UK (Houndmills, Macmillan Education)Google Scholar
Karnik, O., and Philipps, H. 2007. Reggae in Deutschland (Köln, Kiepenheuer & Witsch)Google Scholar
Koehlings, E., and Lilly, P. 2012. ‘The evolution of reggae in Europe with a focus on Germany’, in Global Reggae, ed. Cooper, C. (Kingston, Canoe), pp. 69–94 Google Scholar
Krims, A. 2000. Rap Music and Politics of Identity (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press)Google Scholar
Leserpoll. 2007. ‘Der König ist tot, es lebe der König’, Riddim, 2007/2, pp. 26–33 Google Scholar
Leserpoll. 2009. ‘A change is gonna come’, Riddim 2009/2, pp. 26–33 Google Scholar
Manuel, P., and Marshall, W. 2006. ‘The Riddim method. Aesthetics, practice, and ownership in Jamaican dancehall’, Popular Music, 25/3, pp. 447–70.Google Scholar
Moritz, J. 2007. ‘Nosliw. Back to basics’, Riddim 2007/3, pp. 52–6Google Scholar
Pfleiderer, M. 2011. ‘“Come inna mi ramping shop”. Slackness und Schwulenhass in der jamaikanischen und deutschen Dancehall’, in Thema Nr. 1. Sex und populäre Musik, ed. Helms, D. and Phleps, T. (Bielefeld, Transcript), pp. 165–87Google Scholar
Phleps, T. 2014. ‘“Typisch deutsche” populäre Musik heute. Eine Annäherung’, in Typisch Deutsch. (Eigen-)Sichten auf populäre Musik aus diesem unserem Lande, ed. Helms, D. and Phleps, T. (Bielefeld, Transcript), pp. 9–28 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramstedt, N. 2014. ‘Sound system performances and the localization of dancehall in Finland’, IASPM Journal, 4/1, pp. 42–55 Google Scholar
Ramstedt, N. 2015. ‘Chase sound boys out of Earth. The aura of dubplate specials in Finnish reggae sound system culture’, Dancecult. Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture, 7/2, pp. 25–42 Google Scholar
Saakana, A. S. 2012. ‘The impact of Jamaican music in Britain’, in Global Reggae, ed. Cooper, C. (Kingston, Canoe), pp. 49–68 Google Scholar
Schildt, A., Siegfried, D. 2009. Deutsche Kulturgeschichte. Die Bundesrepublik – 1945 bis zur Gegenwart (Bonn, Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung)Google Scholar
Stolzoff, N. 2000. Wake the Town and Tell the People. Dancehall Culture in Jamaica (Durham, NC, Duke University Press)Google Scholar
tip Berlin. 2009. ‘Ihre Berlin-Hymne: “Schwarz zu blau” von Peter Fox’, tip Berlin. http://www.tip-berlin.de/musik-und-party/ihre-berlin-hymne-schwarz-zu-blau-von-peter-fox (accessed 20 January 2016)Google Scholar

Discography

Benjie, ‘Ganja Smoka’. DANCEHALLfieber. Geco Tonwaren, H 107 DHF 001. 2000 Google Scholar
Delay, Jan, ‘Söhne Stammheims’. Searching for the Jan Soul Rebels. Buback Tonträger, BTT 48–2. 2001 Google Scholar
Delay, Jan, ‘www.hitler.de’. Searching for the Jan Soul Rebels. Buback Tonträger, BTT 48–2. 2001 Google Scholar
Freundeskreis, ‘Leg Dein Ohr auf die Schiene der Geschichte’. Quadratur des Kreises, Four Music 1996 Google Scholar
Seeed, ‘Dickes B’. New Dubby Conquerors. Downbeat/WEA, 8573 87840-2. 2001 Google Scholar
Roni Trettman, ‘Grossvater’. Grossvater. Phlatline Sound Productions. 2008 Google Scholar