Reggae
Against a backdrop of a hostile wider society and brewing political tensions, lovers rock music and parties were a cocoon of serenity.
I am a Musician, a Wife, a Mum an artist, writer, presenter, racing driver, educator, daughter, sister and friend. Pausing to think of these titles that make up Yolanda Brown gave me a strange feeling... was it stress, anxiety? How do I do it? Am I ok doing it?
Thugger now wants to be referred to as Jeffrey, his real name. Jeffrey's cover features the Atlanta rapper in a blue dress with tiered cascading ruffles that wrap around his white buttoned-down shirt, an outfit which took him an hour and a half just to put on. Apparently, this is controversial because of the masculinity that pervades the rap industry, and because of the cover, he even held back its release for some time.
The world's most influential ambassador for reggae music and the Rastafari movement, Robert Nesta Marley is today more alive than ever, and here in the capital city he grew up in he seems almost to have attained the status of a prophet, this 70th birthday concert a kind of grand ceremonial canonisation or coronation in absentia.
The carnival has changed. For my parents, it was a place where they could assert their duality - as Jamaicans living in England. For me and my sibling, it was an opportunity to wave a Jamaican flag alongside others, whilst pretending we were in the Caribbean. Now, the carnival feels like a great big raucous party.
Music journalist John Tobler has spent decades chatting to iconic musicians. I spoke to him about his interviews with reggae legend Bob Marley...
