Dub in Babylon : Understanding the Evolution and Significance of Dub Reggae in Jamaica and Britain from King Tubby to Post-punk

Examines the Jamaican background, necessary for understanding the cultural significance of dub. This work analyses its musical, cultural and political importance for both African-Caribbean and, particularly, white communities in the United Kingdom during the late-1970s and early 1980s.

Understanding the Evolution and Significance of Dub Reggae in Jamaica and Britain from King Tubby to Post-punk

Evolving as a mixing and sound processing technology within reggae, dub has become ubiquitous within contemporary popular music, particularly within the endlessly eclectic remix cultures of global electronic dance music. The origins of dub, however, lie in the backstreets of Jamaica in the late-1960s.

Much misunderstood and overlooked as a genre, Dub in Babylon offers a nuanced cultural history of dub reggae from its earliest days in Jamaica to the decline of post-punk in 1980s Britain, from King Tubby, Lee Perry and Errol Thompson to Jah Shaka, Dennis Bovell and Adrian Sherwood. More broadly, beginning with the plantation system, Afro-Christianity, Ethiopianism and the emergence of Rastafari, all of which shaped Jamaican society and consciousness, Dub in Babylon analyses the key political and spiritual ideas that have informed dub culture.