Stanisland Magazine

Even as a small-scale nation, Jamaica’s cultural impact has been massive, becoming a global sensation all the way to Asia. From China to Thailand, Nyasha Oliver writes about the history of the island’s musical gifts to the East – Dancehall and Reggae, and the Asian artists who have been inspired.

Jamaica, the country of my culture and heritage, has profoundly influenced the world. When it comes to music from the island, reggae and dancehall are at the centre of inspiration for countries across Asia. The impact is nothing new, as it all started in the 1970s.

Reggae band The Pioneers was one of the first to be welcomed in countries like Japan in 1975. Then soon after, Bob Marley, Diana King and others were noted for their travels for performing in and around Asia. It wasn’t just music but also films like The Harder They Come (1972), Rockers (1978) and Dancehall Queen (1997) that boosted reggae and dancehall.

Chinese-Jamaicans, Vincent “Randy” and Patricia Chin (known as Miss Pat and “The Mother of Reggae”) are innovators in ways that many people may not know. Having first owned Randy’s Records in Kingston, Jamaica, they then moved to New York and established the label, VP Records in 1979. Today, they are a powerhouse independent label with artists like Busy Signal and Spice under their roster. Behind the scenes, Mikey and Geoffrey Chung, Leslie Kong, Herman Chin Loy and Bryon Lee and the Dragonaires have also long been in the music industry since the 1950s making an impact as record producers and musicians.

When dancehall began getting popular, it was the turn of the millennium. Bounty Killer, Elephant Man and Beenie Man were three who took the lead along with Shaggy and Sean Paul who gained mainstream hits like It Wasn’t Me and Gimme The Light in the early 2000s. In recent years, there’s been a plethora of artists who have gained global recognition; Spice, Vybz Kartel, Alkaline, Shenseea, Mr Vegas, Koffee, Popcaan, Mavado and Gyptian to name a few have performed all over Asia. There’s also been an influx in mixing reggae and dancehall with other genres like Ampiano, Trap and Afrobeats.

In the midst of it all, I was introduced as a teenager to the winner of Jamaica’s dancehall queen in 2002, Junko Kudo on the family computer and also discovered a Singaporean ex-singer, Ho Yeow Sun aka SUN and her song, China Wine. Both have worked with the likes of Elephant Man, Wyclef Jean and Tony Matterhorn within the reggae and dancehall scene, and it really opened my eyes to how much of a connection Asia has to Jamaica.

READ MORE: Japanese R&B – The State of It All

As an adult who used to live in Asia, I’ve stepped into Tokyo’s Garam, a bar in Shinjuku,  Harlem, a popular club in Shibuya, Korea’s JOONS bar in Hongdae and Club Octagon in Gangnam which regularly hold dancehall nights. There’s also DJs such as nasthug, and events like AMAPINIGHT that play dancehall sometimes. But it’s not just these two who have been influenced by dancehall and reggae. 

So from seven countries – China, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand – I want to share how reggae and dancehall have created spaces amongst. 

CHINA

Historically and musically, China and Jamaica have ties. In China, it’s on a larger scale.

When people think of reggae in the country, Yunnan province has a big community. The band, Kawa, from Ximeng, is one of the major artists across China and the other is Long Shen Dao from Beijing. Kawa is known for starting “Yunnan Reggae,” incorporating ethnic elements into their interpretations of the genre. 

A look at how the genre impacts cities like Shanghai can be found in Goldthread’s short documentary. The reggae artist mentioned in the video, Jado, was known as the co-founder of Far East Lion, a sound system duo and known as a key person bringing “Mandarin Ragga Muffin,” or China’s style of reggae to the world.

Long Shen Dao, on the other hand, is known as China’s first true reggae band since they opened for The Wailers, whose name was a spinoff of Bob Marley and The Wailers. Their music over the last decade has created a space for artists in the country to slowly come up. 

ChinaMan Yard is credited as the first record label in China to produce dancehall and reggae artists such as Stinging Ray, who made an appearance at an annual event called, “Bob Marley Day” to celebrate him as a pioneer of the genre. Also, there’s a blend of international DJs and artists who are popular within the scene such as Shanghai Dancehall Crew, LuckyRoots and DJ Laobang.

JAPAN 

Like China, Japan has been heavily influenced by reggae and dancehall. Like the author of Babylon East, Marvin D. Sterling said ‘the interest in reggae culture has deepened over time to become a way of life.’ One of the top Japanese television stations, TV Tokyo, has a late-night program to this day, Ryuha-R (流派-R SINCE 2001), that specialises in hip-hop, R&B, and reggae. Along with Junko Kudo appearing on the program after winning her title, the program also explores the culture in general.

Along with Babylon East, there was also Di Reggae Book written by music journalist, Minako Ikeshiro in 2006 along with a range of reggae and dancehall publications for readers to learn more; Riddim, Yokohama Reggae Times, Strive, Rove and Reggae Magazine, the latter ceasing in 1997. 

A good overview of what it was like pre-2010 can be seen from the Tokyo City series, Dancehall Queen. And it’s not just around Tokyo that keeps the genre alive, events and festivals such as Osaka’s Mighty Jam Rock and Highest Mountain, Yokohama’s Mighty Crown or even Far East Reggae Cruise have had an impact amongst fans of reggae and dancehall. 

Notable acts over the years have been Akane, Pushim, Nanjaman, ZendaMan, J-Rexxx, Papa B and Hisatomi. Online, some artists and dancers like Micky Rich’s GURI GURI, Kenta “Cornbread” Tezuka and Marvin Di Beast on stage with Spice went viral. I also grew up listening to a lot of Japanese music, and the reggae and dancehall impact can be heard in SWEET BLACK feat. Goto Maki’s Queen Bee, May J’s Baby Eyes (Ma$amatixxx Dancehall Mix) and Kato Miliyah’s song, このままずっと朝まで (Stay like this until morning), the latter sampling Tanto Metro and Devonte’s Everyone Falls in Love. 

So it’s safe to say reggae and dancehall is alive and well in Japan. 

Malaysia

While reggae and dancehall doesn’t have a big presence in comparison to other countries, artists in Malaysia are mostly underground and produce music at live showcases. 

Sasi The Don is an award winning reggae and dancehall artist known as the “Ambassador of Reggae Asia.” He’s probably one of the most known artists having debuted in 2001 and bringing the genre to life in Malaysia. 

Apart from Sasi The Don, there’s also the punk reggae band, The Garrison. Residing in the capital of Kuala Lumpur, the band writes catchy tunes and are heavily influenced from sounds in the 70s when reggae was getting popular.

Nowadays, dancehall and reggae don’t seem to be as prominent in Malaysia but things may change. Although there’s no airplay, many artists produce music in live showcases and reggae bars, especially around touristic areas like Pantai Tengah, Langkawi. 

PHILIPPINES

Known as Pinoy reggae amongst the locals, reggae (more than dancehall) has been present in the Philippines since the 70s. 

When it comes to creating spaces, DJ Red-I is someone who comes to mind. He grew up with a big interest in reggae music and started Irie Sundays alongside PJ Martinez, another DJ. At one venue called Black Market, they hosted Dancehall Manila, a well-known dancehall community and movement that’s still ongoing. Their dance crew sometimes performs at the Pum Pum Tun Up event run every Thursday at Black Market. 

Also from Manila is Brownman Revival. The band was created in the 90s and is heavily influenced by Aswad, Bob Marley and Inner Circle. One of Brownman Revival’s influences is also a famous band, Tropical Depression that’s formed in the 80s. Despite many line-up changes and a hiatus following their member’s passing in 2013, they reunited two years later and continued on. Junior Kilat is another popular reggae band who has won “Song of the Year Award” in the mid 2000s and is a prominent act in the Philippines. 

Even now, the reggae and dancehall space in the country still exists so it’s nice to see that both genres are loved over there and it continues to go strong. 

SOUTH KOREA

Compared to popular genres such as K-Pop, K-R&B and K-Hip-Hop, reggae and dancehall is not as mainstream. Local musicians are still continuing to find ways to make themselves relevant to local culture and express themselves through it, especially at events such as Cakeshop’s Pasa Passa in Seoul. In Korea, there’s three bands that are front and centre within the reggae scene there. 

Seoul’s NST (the initials were of the band leader, Noh Sun-teck’s name) & The Soul Sauce formed in 2014 and are well-known for their unique blend of reggae with pansori, traditional Korean music. The band gained attention when they performed a tribute to the late Rico Rodriguez and has performed in countries across Asia, North and South America. 

There’s also The Reseters who formed five years ago and refers to their style of music as “Boss Reggae,” which combines mods and skinhead culture. Recently this year, they released their debut album, ‘Give Me a Blue Beat’ which is worth taking a listen to. 

Shin Hantae & the Reggae Soul is relatively new out of the three bands. They’ve been called “The next generation of Korean reggae” with the members’ ages ranging from their late teens to early 20s. They have a strong sound with the frontman Shin mentioning that Bob Marley’s No Woman No Cry was the song that influenced him along with NST & the Soul Sauce to start their band. 

Along with Japanese music, a few songs that I heard back in my K-Pop fangirl days had obvious reggae and dancehall influences such as 2NE1’s ‘Falling in Love‘, Exo’s ‘Ko Ko Bop‘, miss A’s ‘Breathe‘ and Wonder Girls ‘Why So Lonely‘ to name a few. There was also the group, Wassup who covered SAEA Banyana, attempting to “bring twerking to the K-Pop scene” miserably. Within the R&B and hip-hop space, there’s G.Soul’s ‘Far, far away‘, Groovy Room’s ‘Somewhere‘ and Zion’. T’s ‘지구온난화‘. There’s also Skull who notably had a Jamaican teacher that helped gain an interest into reggae, and Nuol who has reggae and hip-hop influences. 

TAIWAN

Taiwan’s reggae-centric artists are still few and far between, with little to none in dancehall. Spaces such as The Wall Live House in Taipei allow for bands and artists to perform their reggae and dancehall songs. 

Coming from Taitung, the four-member band, Matzka is the most known who burst onto the scene in 2009. Their lead singer-songwriter is acclaimed as “Reggae Lion” and his influences and future direction against the wider backdrop of reggae music in the region has led to other reggae bands such Mr .WooHoo working alongside them. Ska and rock band, Skaraoke whose name derives from the genre, Ska and Karaoke, gained recognition for bringing people a special island-style twist to their sound. 

There are a collective number of DJs who bring something to the scene in Taiwan such as DJ HaiLongWang and Black Reign. However, unlike DJ HaiLongWang, Black Reign is not Taiwanese. They’re a sound system group formed of DJs Oliver “Lion” Harley and General Young Blood from Jamaica, Fyah B from Belize, Katzu from Japan and Talli from France of Martiniquan descent. 

Non-reggae and dancehall artists have also made significant contributions with songs that have a clear reggae and dancehall influence such as Leo Wang’s ‘Bad Digestion‘, Xie Tianxiao’s ‘Wind in the Coat‘, Cui Jian’s ‘Start All Over Again‘ and Karencici featuring on ‘Matzka’s Tang Yi‘. 

THAILAND

More than dancehall, the ska and reggae scene is very popular in Thailand. There’s three major bands at the centre – Kai-Jo Brothers and T-Bone who are both from Bangkok and Job2Do from Phuket. And all three performed at the biggest reggae and ska festival this year, The Sunset Beach Music Festival. 

Kai-Jo Brothers is known as one of the first Thai Modern Roots Reggae Band and started their musical career in 2001. They’re credited as the first band to promote and spread the Rastafarian culture through Thai society, by spreading the word on reggae music and culture in Thai language by using magazines, gigs and websites. 

T-Bone was formed by a group of friends in 1990 who love reggae music and were influenced by Bob Marley. They became the first Thai band to play at the Glastonbury Festival in 2005 and were invited back again two years later.. 

Job2Do has a huge following locally and abroad, they’re also known for talking about the legalisation of weed in each concert. The lead in the band, Job Bunjob is very popular and has been performing for nearly 20 years, mostly at beaches and venues all over Thailand. 

As a result of these bands influence, there’s successors that have appeared all over Thailand such as Teddy Ska Band, Super Glasses Ska Ensemble, Zom Ammara and Deep O Sea.s. 

In most countries, trends may come and go but a love for reggae and dancehall is forever. Nowadays dancehall and reggae seem to get entwined within the nightlife scene in Asia. Since the pandemic started, many establishments and nightlife spots have sadly closed. But all hope is not lost. The musical and cultural connections of reggae will still and always occupy an important place in Asia.