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Album Details

• Artist: Various Artists
• Album: World Reggae
• Label: Putumayo
• Year of Release: 2004
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2004-05-12

The first thing I think of when I think of Reggae is Jamaica and I'm sure I'm not alone. But as this compilation shows, reggae is no longer just a genre that is native to Jamaica. The branches of the rasta-shuffle has spread to the far reaches of the world. Putumayo has actually accomplished putting together a reggae compilation without one artist coming from reggae's homeland. Who would have thought that this would happen when Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley were just bringing this kind of music to other audiences? World Reggae includes artists from France, India/UK, Algeria, Nigeria, Cape Verde, Brazil, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and many other places. The only artists that I had heard of before are Apache Indian ("Om Numah Shivaya"), Majek Fashek ("African Unity"), and Alpha Blondy ("Lalogo"). The music presented is sung in all sorts of languages as well. The thing that keeps this cohesive is the plugging along of the reggae beat. You can hear the artist's political passion coming through even though you don't know the exact message. World Reggae is definitely not a definitive reggae compilation but it does serve to show us that the music has moved into a global state.

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