Prince Zimboo: Hold The Line

Prince Zimboo: Hold the Line

“He has 999 wives. He hails from an unnamed region of central Africa (“a thin layer of impenetrable rainforest,” he tells interviewers) known only as d’bush. His name is Prince Zimboo Abakunamabooba, and if he sounds fishy to you, he should. Outlandish back stories are common in hip-hop—a genre perched on the fault line between tell-it-like-it-is verité and winking artifice—but Zimboo’s mythology is patently unbelievable, 100 percent wink. Is he a loon? A comedian? A walking 419 scam, claiming African royalty as part of some elaborate performance-art hoax?” Jonah Weiner, Slate

Lloyd Barnes and The Wackie’s Label

Horace Andy: Mr. Scientist

“Over the 13 years that the studio on 241st Street was open, Mr. Barnes recorded artists like Sugar Minott, the Meditations, and Wayne Jarrett. The songs he produced included “Instrument for Jah,” “West Bound D Train,” and “Wack Rap,” an early rap single, released in 1979.

After rising rents forced him to close the studio in 1989, he said, he moved to Englewood, N.J., where he mainly mastered recordings for Japanese record companies.

“It wasn’t till much later that Wackie hit his heyday” and found wider popularity, said Ira Heaps, owner of Jammyland, an East Village record store that specialized in reggae. Mr. Heaps added that “Dance Hall Style“ by Horace Andy, a record on the Wackie’s label, was his store’s most popular album.” Niko Koppel, New York Times

Michael Rose & Damian Marley – Shoot Out (RMX)

Michael Rose & Damian Marley – Shoot Out (RMX)

The Year in Reggae / Dancehall