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As said before, this website could not have
been there if the music it promotes would be
anything else but Reggae Music. The reason for
that is that on one hand there are many reasons to
condemn the CCM industry as it is as unchristian
as the music it aims to "sanctify". On
the other hand, a born again Christian could never
promote satanic music either. So if the
music promoted on the Dubroom would be anything
else but Reggae Music, this site would either have
to be a CCM site or it couldn't promote the music
at all. And given the strong anti-CCM vibe on the
Dubroom, it can easily be said that the Dubroom
wouldn't be there if it wasn't for Reggae.
CCM claims that music is neutral, but they
still have to "sanctify" it so that
Christians can "safely" consume the
music as "spiritual food". CCM claims,
that this have to be done with about every form of
music. Rock 'n' Roll, Heavy Metal, Gothical, Rap,
and the list can go on.
CCM claims, it has to be done with Reggae Music
too.
So, let's take a look at Reggae Music. Let's
compare Reggae Music with the styles and genres
carefully created in the laboratories of the
American and UK based Music Industries.
Reggae Music originally is a rhythm, a
particular music by a particular people. The
people of Jamaica, to be precize. It's on Jamaica,
that Reggae Music originated. And
"everybody" participated in the
development of the music. A big portion of the
people who played part in this process were, and
are, Christians. It's said, that the name
"Reggae" came from Toots and the
Maytalls. And Toots is said to be a Christian.
Haile Selassie, the Ethiopian Emperor who some
worship as the incarnation of Jah Rastafari (God),
visited Jamaica. He saw, that he was being
worshipped as Jah and in 1970, he sent someone
from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church to Jamaica with
the words:
There is a problem in Jamaica.... Please, help
these people. They are misunderstanding, they do
not understand our culture.... They need a church
to be established and you are chosen to go.
Abuna Yesehaq went to Jamaica, and the
Ethiopian Christian faith became a part of
Jamaican culture. A culture partly rooted in
Christianity. Of course this included the music.
Christianity has had it's members within Reggae
Culture from day one. And this is important to
remember.
More often then not, Reggae Music was recorded
under the most terrible circumstances. No big guys
with Zillions of American Dollars and hi-tech
studio's in protected area's. Even the most
equiped Jamaican studio's did not have the
possibilities of the studio's in America etc.
Especially in pre-digital times!
The music gave hope to the sufferers in the
ghetto. Many referances to the Book of the
Apocalypse continually reminded the people how
Babylon System would not live forever. The same
system that took their fore parents from Africa
was clearly identified as that wicked antichrist
system of the Bible.
The music served as a vehicle for the news as
well. Many times, the Sound Systems would play the
music while MC's chanted the news over the riddim.
This could be local news, but world news was
covered as well. And commented upon, of course.
The Movement of Rastafari, with it's
different forms or houses, plays a very important
role in Reggae Music too.
The western Music Industry likes to display the
Movement as a Jamaican form of Hippieness, and
because of that western Christians often think that the Movement
is some kind of antichrist religion. But in
reality, Rastas can be more compared with
"fundamentalist christians" then with
hippies or antichrists.
There are Rastas who think that you shouldn't
play Reggae Music but stick to the natural hand
drums. There are Rasta artists who refuse to go on
stage when their band members are not
"propperly dressed".
Bob Marley had to change his music
significantly in order to make it marketable in
especially America. His connections with Chris
Blackwell of Island Records led him to have his
music worked out in English studio's. And even
after that Reggae Music was still not that popular
in the United States, where they had their own
forms of music. It took a Babylonian
Transformational Operation to make
"reggae" popular in America.
It went like this.
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