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was new wave singer Patti Smith that
"discovered" Tappa Zukie for the
western world and used him as support act
for her own Patti Smith Group. This is the
main reason, Tappa is so popular in punk and
new wave circles of the 70's and 80's. Still
his music was not really available for the
big public. From the Archives is not a
release of an older album, but rather a
"best-of Tappa Zukie". Killer
tracks like MPLA, one of my all time
favorite riddims, Peace & Love and Tappa
Roots are my favorite selections of this
album. The three tracks I've mentioned are
all school examples of Rockers from the
1970's.
Interesting to read in the information
that comes along with the CD, is that Tappa
states part of the reason why he stopped his
career as a toaster (reggae rapper) was that
he was becoming too "slack", as it
is called in Jamaica. Slackness, or
pornographic style lyrics, is very popular
especially in the toasting scene. You can
unfortunately also hear some slack tracks on
this album, of which Tappa now says he was
doing it too much.
Fortunately he has made some real classic
conscious tracks as well, some of which I
have already mentioned. These are the tracks
you really need to hear, because the riddims
are so very hard! It is a shame that some
slackness is on the CD, but it gives an
impression of the double-ness in so many
deejays and singers: they combine conscious
lyrics with slack lyrics as if they are not
ashamed over it.
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