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The Harder They Come

  • June 23, 2010 6:16 pm

In calling up our favorite songs that get our spirits up if not, help us muster the will to face the day, I can think of none other than Jimmy Cliff’s ‘The Harder They Come’.  Recorded for the 1972 Jamaican crime film of the same name, the song has the characteristically upbeat rhythms of reggae.  And yet, the lyrics don’t hold back from expressing the inequalities, hopes, and frustrations of the lead character, Ivanhoe Martin – a poor Jamaican man who has his brief rise as a reggae singer and then falls hard when he submits to a life of crime and violence.  Here’s a music video of the song with clips from the movie.  Read more...

Original Offenders: Leslie Kong & Chinese Jamaicans who pioneered Reggae

  • December 1, 2009 6:25 pm
Chinese Jamaican producer Leslie Kong discovered Bob Marley

Chinese Jamaican producer Leslie Kong discovered Bob Marley

Phil’s recent posts about Asian American pioneers of the punk and rock scene of the 1980s, inspired me to write up about another group of music pioneers to what is arguably one of the biggest music genres on the planet. Reggae music, the unique, infectious hybrid put together by the island’s masterful musicians in the 1960s, is now one of the most popular forms of music in the world; the iconic figure of Bob Marley, often described as “the first Third World superstar”, has been rightly recognized as an exceptionally talented singer-songwriter whose universal messages of self-determination have struck chords with people on all continents. Everyone knows Marley was Jamaican, yet few realize his first recording was made by a Jamaican record producer of Chinese origin, just one example of the crucial yet largely hidden role that Chinese Jamaicans have played in reggae’s creation and dissemination.  Read more...