Sly and Robbie

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Sly and Robbie
Sly Dunbar (left) and Robbie Shakespeare in the late 1970s.
Background information
OriginJamaica
Genres
Years active1970s–2021
Labels
Past membersLowell "Sly" Dunbar
Robert "Robbie" Shakespeare (deceased)

Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres.[1] Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separately in Jamaica as professional musicians.[2] Shakespeare died in December 2021 following kidney surgery.[3]

Career

1970s: Beginnings in reggae

Hoo Kim brothers
.

According to The Independent, their breakthrough album was

The Mighty Diamonds' 1976 release Right Time, which helped to establish them as the "masters of groove and propulsion."[5] The drum beat on the title song was particularly tricky; in 2001 Dunbar recalled, "When that tune first come out, because of that double tap on the rim nobody believe it was me on the drums, they thought it was some sort of sound effect we was using. Then when it go to number 1 and stay there, everybody started trying for that style and it soon become establish."[6]

1980s: Transition to digital

See also: Rhythm Killers
Robbie Shakespeare (right) playing with Peter Tosh on the Bush Doctor tour, 1978

In 1976, they introduced a harder beat called "Rockers", which quickly replaced the then-prevalent "

Compass Point All Stars, the Nassau recording band based at Compass Point Studios that was to produce classic records for Grace Jones, Joe Cocker and Gwen Guthrie
among many others.

On 1985 Sly and Robbie play drum and bass on album Scacchi e tarocchi by Francesco De Gregori[7]

Their 1987

UK Singles Chart in 1987 with "Boops (Here to Go)" which Robbie Williams later sampled for his single "Rudebox
".

1990s: Dancehall

In the early 1990s, Sly and Robbie introduced a novel sound with the hits "Bam Bam" and "

rap music
where a song's "hook" or chorus is sung by a guest, while the verses are rapped.

In the "Bam Bam" style, Dunbar introduced Indian tabla sounds in his drum beats, while Shakespeare altogether stopped playing bass on this particular project.

Sly & Robbie continued to innovate during the late 1990s and early 2000s, fusing

Latin music sounds (La Trenggae) or dancehall and hip hop/R&B (their 2004 'Big Up' riddim). They had a second UK top 40 hit in 1997, collaborating with Simply Red on a cover of Gregory Isaacs' "Night Nurse
", reaching number 13. In 1999, their Strip to the Bone album paired them with Scottish electro producer
DVD single
, its February 1999 release date making it one of or even the first DVD single ever to go on sale.

They won a

Grammy Award in 1999 for the album Friends.[9]

2000–2021: Projects

In 2003, they compiled and mixed a

Tricky, Doug E. Fresh, Carlos Santana, Sinéad O'Connor, Monty Alexander, Ian Dury
, and others.

Sly and Robbie produced No Doubt's international hits "Hey Baby" and "Underneath It All".[10]

They also produced some tracks for

Suggs' 1996 debut solo album The Lone Ranger including the hit version of "Cecilia" featuring Louchie Lou & Michie One
which sold over 500,000 copies in the UK alone and reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart.

After 35 years together, they still toured and recorded in the 2000s, until Shakespeare's death in 2021. In early 2005, they toured with Tony Rebel and Half Pint. During the summer of 2005, they toured Europe and the UK with Bunny Rugs, lead singer for Third World. During the fall of 2005 they were on the road with Sinéad O'Connor. in August 2006, they appeared with Don Carlos at the Reggae on the River festival, and in August 2007 they performed on a tour of the Western United States and Canada along with dancehall-soul singer and actress Cherine Anderson, including headlining Reggae Rising in Humboldt County and the Hollywood Bowl. They toured with Bitty McLean, the TAXI Gang, and in 2012, planned a Jamaican Legends tour throughout Europe, with jazz pianist Monty Alexander and guitarist Ernest Ranglin.

They have produced several new Jamaican artists for their Taxi label, as well as such as

rapper Jovanotti on the album Safari. They also produced tracks for Paul McCartney and Britney Spears. Sly and Robbie collaborated with the Ecuadorian singer-songwriter Cecilia Villar Eljuri,[11] on several occasions; on her song "El Aire" from her 2008 album En Paz, in 2012 on her song "Empuja" from Fuerte and in 2016 on her song "Quiero Saber" from La Lucha. Sung in Spanish, these songs quickly charted on Worldbeat and Latin Alternative international radio. Sly and Robbie worked on Brazilian singer-songwriter Vanessa da Mata's third album Sim
, bringing their own feel to several tracks. Partially recorded in Kingston, Jamaica, Sim was released on 28 May 2007 by Sony BMG.

In 2009, Movin' On, the new album by Bitty McLean, which they produced with McLean and their longtime friend and associate Guillaume Bougard, came out and was widely acclaimed as the best reggae album of the year. Sly and Robbie toured Japan, Morocco (Mawazine festival) and Europe with McLean to showcase the album. Sly and Robbie produced four songs on Cherine Anderson's EP The Introduction-Dubstyle. The second single "Shine on Jamaica", which was produced by the duo, peaked at number 1 for four weeks on both the South Florida Reggae charts, as well as the WAVS 1170 Reggae Charts. In 2012, they [when?] worked on Khalifa's album G.RIOT 2012 and Bitty McLean's album. Their 2014 project, Sly and Robbie presents No-Maddz, was released at the end of 2014.[12]

They received their 11th Grammy Award nomination in 2014 for the album The Reggae Power.[9] In October 2015, the duo received the Gold Musgrave Medal in recognition of their contribution to music.[13]

In 2019, they collaborated with the reggae group Roots Radics on the album The Final Battle: Roots Radics vs. Sy & Robbie, produced by Hernan "Don Camel" Sforzini. The album was nominated for a Grammy.[14]

Discography

Main article: Sly and Robbie discography

Appearances in media

Sly and Robbie appeared in the 2011 documentary Reggae Got Soul: The Story of Toots and the Maytals which was featured on BBC and described as "The untold story of one of the most influential artists ever to come out of Jamaica".[15][16]

References

  1. ^ a b Greene, Jo-Ann. "Sly & Robbie". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  2. ^
    ISBN 1-85227-745-9
    .
  3. ^ Risen, Clay (9 December 2021). "Robbie Shakespeare, Prolific Reggae Bassist, Is Dead at 68". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  4. ^ "Red Bull Music Academy". Redbullmusicacademy.com.
  5. ^ Murray, Charles Shaar. "The rhythm kings Drum and Bass are at the heart of popular music and for 20 years Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare have been acknowledged the best. But who are their own favourites?". The Independent.[dead link]
  6. ISBN 9780802138286
    . Mighty Diamonds Right Time.
  7. ^ "Discografia Nazionale della canzone italiana". discografia.dds.it. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  8. ^ di Perna, Alan (August 1987). "Sly & Robbie: Can the Riddim Twins Rock the Mainstream?". Musician. Amordian Press.
  9. ^ a b Jackson, Kevin (2014) "Six vie for Reggae Grammy album", Jamaica Observer, 5 December 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014
  10. ^ Brunner, Rob (9 January 2002). "Meet the guys who gave No Doubt their reggae beat". Entertainment Weekly.
  11. ^ "ELJURI - FUERTE". Eljurimusic.com. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  12. ^ Gardy Stein-Kanjora, "Album Review: Sly & Robbie presents No-Maddz", Reggaeville, 27 January 2015.
  13. Jamaica Gleaner
    . 30 October 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  14. ^ Daley, Rory (7 February 2020). "Sly, Flabba get honour". Jamaica Observer.
  15. ^ Toots and the Maytals: Reggae Got Soul. BBC Four. 2011.
  16. ^ "Toots & The Maytals - Reggae Got Soul - Documentary Trailer". Toots and the Maytals. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021 – via YouTube.

External links

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