Wake the Town and Tell the People: Dancehall Culture in Jamaica
by Norman C. Stolzoff
Duke University Press, 2000 eISBN: 978-0-8223-7757-3 | Paper: 978-0-8223-2514-7 | Cloth: 978-0-8223-2478-2 Library of Congress Classification ML3486.J3S76 2000 Dewey Decimal Classification 306.484
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Jamaican dancehall has long been one of the most vital and influential cultural and artistic forces within contemporary global music. Wake the Town and Tell the People presents, for the first time, a lively, nuanced, and comprehensive view of this musical and cultural phenomenon: its growth and historical role within Jamaican society, its economy of star making, its technology of production, its performative practices, and its capacity to channel political beliefs through popular culture in ways that are urgent, tangible, and lasting. Norman C. Stolzoff brings a fan’s enthusiasm to his broad perspective on dancehall, providing extensive interviews, original photographs, and anthropological analysis from eighteen months of fieldwork in Kingston. Stolzoff argues that this enormously popular musical genre expresses deep conflicts within Jamaican society, not only along lines of class, race, gender, sexuality, and religion but also between different factions struggling to gain control of the island nation’s political culture. Dancehall culture thus remains a key arena where the future of this volatile nation is shaped. As his argument unfolds, Stolzoff traces the history of Jamaican music from its roots in the late eighteenth century to 1945, from the addition of sound systems and technology during the mid-forties to early sixties, and finally through the post-independence years from the early sixties to the present. Wake the Town and Tell the People offers a general introduction for those interested in dancehall music and culture. For the fan or musicologist, it will serve as a comprehensive reference book.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Norman C. Stolzoff, Ph.D. is president of Ethnographic Insight, Inc., a consumer anthropology and marketing research firm in Bellingham, Washington.
REVIEWS
“Dancehall is not just about music, it is about a way of life. Norman Stolzoff clearly understands this. I would tell anyone who wants to get a picture of reggae and the Jamaican people to take a read of Wake the Town and Tell the People-it's worth it. ‘Blessed.’ ”—Beenie Man, reigning king of the dancehall and two-time reggae Grammy nominee for Many Moods of Moses and The Doctor
“Norman Stolzoff has gone where many fear to tread - to the very heart of the dancehall milieu in the depths of the Kingston ghetto, emerging with the first full, objective look at this fertile birthing ground of Jamaican music. Wake the Town introduces us to many of the prime figures in DJ culture—producers, promoters, selectors and artists—and traces their history back hundreds of years. It is a remarkable work.”—Roger Steffens, co-author of Bob Marley: Spirit Dancer and Old Fire Sticks: The Autobiography of Bunny Wailer
“Stolzoff's comprehensive analysis will unquestionably be an important contribution to the growing field of Latin American/Caribbean popular music studies. But beyond its importance as the ‘first’ study of dancehall, this book is outstanding because of its theoretical sophistication, its comprehensive scope, and its firm grounding in extensive fieldwork among dancehall participants.”—Deborah Pacini-Hernandez, author of Bachata: A Social History of Dominican Popular Music
“This is the first sustained study of Jamaican dancehall music and culture in all of its aspects. Everyone interested in the island music, and in popular music in general, will find something useful in this book.”—Andrew Ross, author of The Celebration Chronicles
-- Peter Shapiro The Wire
-- Aaron Cohen DownBeat
-- Publishers Weekly
-- Balford Henry Jamaica Gleaner
-- Jeff Gibson Bookforum
-- Michael Turner Beat
-- Belinda Edmondson interventions
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Illustrations xi
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xxv
1 Dancehall Culture in Jamaica: An Introduction 1
2 "From Way Back When": The Dancehall from Slavery to World War II 20
3 "Talking Blues": The Rise of the Sound System 41
4 "Get Up, Stand Up": The Dancehall in Post-Independence Jamaica 65
5 The Dub Market: The Recording Studio and the Production of Dancehall Culture 115
6 "I'm Like a Gunshot Heading Toward a Target": The Career Trajectory of the Dancehall Entertainer 151
7 "Run Come Inna the Dance": The Dancehall Performance 193
8 The Politics of Dancehall Culture: A Conclusion 227
Notes 249
Bibliography 273
Index 285
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
Wake the Town and Tell the People: Dancehall Culture in Jamaica
by Norman C. Stolzoff
Duke University Press, 2000 eISBN: 978-0-8223-7757-3 Paper: 978-0-8223-2514-7 Cloth: 978-0-8223-2478-2
Jamaican dancehall has long been one of the most vital and influential cultural and artistic forces within contemporary global music. Wake the Town and Tell the People presents, for the first time, a lively, nuanced, and comprehensive view of this musical and cultural phenomenon: its growth and historical role within Jamaican society, its economy of star making, its technology of production, its performative practices, and its capacity to channel political beliefs through popular culture in ways that are urgent, tangible, and lasting. Norman C. Stolzoff brings a fan’s enthusiasm to his broad perspective on dancehall, providing extensive interviews, original photographs, and anthropological analysis from eighteen months of fieldwork in Kingston. Stolzoff argues that this enormously popular musical genre expresses deep conflicts within Jamaican society, not only along lines of class, race, gender, sexuality, and religion but also between different factions struggling to gain control of the island nation’s political culture. Dancehall culture thus remains a key arena where the future of this volatile nation is shaped. As his argument unfolds, Stolzoff traces the history of Jamaican music from its roots in the late eighteenth century to 1945, from the addition of sound systems and technology during the mid-forties to early sixties, and finally through the post-independence years from the early sixties to the present. Wake the Town and Tell the People offers a general introduction for those interested in dancehall music and culture. For the fan or musicologist, it will serve as a comprehensive reference book.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Norman C. Stolzoff, Ph.D. is president of Ethnographic Insight, Inc., a consumer anthropology and marketing research firm in Bellingham, Washington.
REVIEWS
“Dancehall is not just about music, it is about a way of life. Norman Stolzoff clearly understands this. I would tell anyone who wants to get a picture of reggae and the Jamaican people to take a read of Wake the Town and Tell the People-it's worth it. ‘Blessed.’ ”—Beenie Man, reigning king of the dancehall and two-time reggae Grammy nominee for Many Moods of Moses and The Doctor
“Norman Stolzoff has gone where many fear to tread - to the very heart of the dancehall milieu in the depths of the Kingston ghetto, emerging with the first full, objective look at this fertile birthing ground of Jamaican music. Wake the Town introduces us to many of the prime figures in DJ culture—producers, promoters, selectors and artists—and traces their history back hundreds of years. It is a remarkable work.”—Roger Steffens, co-author of Bob Marley: Spirit Dancer and Old Fire Sticks: The Autobiography of Bunny Wailer
“Stolzoff's comprehensive analysis will unquestionably be an important contribution to the growing field of Latin American/Caribbean popular music studies. But beyond its importance as the ‘first’ study of dancehall, this book is outstanding because of its theoretical sophistication, its comprehensive scope, and its firm grounding in extensive fieldwork among dancehall participants.”—Deborah Pacini-Hernandez, author of Bachata: A Social History of Dominican Popular Music
“This is the first sustained study of Jamaican dancehall music and culture in all of its aspects. Everyone interested in the island music, and in popular music in general, will find something useful in this book.”—Andrew Ross, author of The Celebration Chronicles
-- Peter Shapiro The Wire
-- Aaron Cohen DownBeat
-- Publishers Weekly
-- Balford Henry Jamaica Gleaner
-- Jeff Gibson Bookforum
-- Michael Turner Beat
-- Belinda Edmondson interventions
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Illustrations xi
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xxv
1 Dancehall Culture in Jamaica: An Introduction 1
2 "From Way Back When": The Dancehall from Slavery to World War II 20
3 "Talking Blues": The Rise of the Sound System 41
4 "Get Up, Stand Up": The Dancehall in Post-Independence Jamaica 65
5 The Dub Market: The Recording Studio and the Production of Dancehall Culture 115
6 "I'm Like a Gunshot Heading Toward a Target": The Career Trajectory of the Dancehall Entertainer 151
7 "Run Come Inna the Dance": The Dancehall Performance 193
8 The Politics of Dancehall Culture: A Conclusion 227
Notes 249
Bibliography 273
Index 285
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE