Toronto Mike

Black Music for White People

music

Back in '91, I listened to a lot of Shabba Ranks.  Don't look so surprised.  I wasn't just about the grunge scene.  A friend turned me on to Shabba and I spent a lot of time listening to As Raw As Ever and other singles from the popular Jamaican dancehall recording artist.

The other day I dropped a Shabba lyric while with a non-white friend and he winced.  He told me Shabba Ranks was reggae for white people.  I was shocked.  I only have a white person's perspective, and I just assumed non-white people enjoyed Shabba as much as I did.

Since this enlightening discussion I've revisited my Shabba Ranks collection and I've realized two things.  Firstly, it's far cheesier music than I remember it being 17 years ago, and secondly, the fact it's poppy reggae probably means it's black music for white people.

Shabba!

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