Sound-system operator who pioneered reggae in the UK
JAH SHAKA, who has died in his early 70s, was a key figure on the British reggae scene for half a century, a Rastafarian sound system operator who stuck to his love of roots and dub music and bolstered the popularity of those art forms with material released on his own record label.
Shaka was first and foremost a player of records, running his own sound system from the 1970s onwards, his fiercely bass-heavy speaker system rattling the windows of town halls and community centres into the early hours.
But he also became well-known for the more than 40 dub albums he produced with the likes of Horace Andy, the Twinkle Brothers, Mad Professor and Johnny Clarke. Never one to respond to the twists and turns of fashion, he adhered to a Rasta-inspired “roots and culture” agenda which sometimes left him on the periphery of reggae, yet in the long run he remained at its heart, and his output influenced a number of younger artists in Britain, in and outside the genre.
Mysterious and selfcontained, Shaka gave so little away about himself that few details of his life are publicly known. Born around 1948 in the rural parish of Clarendon, Jamaica, he moved to Britain with his parents in 1956 as a young boy, settling in south-east London.
He showed talent at church and in school on the drums and guitar, and recalled once being caught by a teacher with a mouth organ – a forbidden item – in his pocket. Offered the chance to avoid punishment by showing he could play the instrument, he did so, drawing applause from his fellow pupils. “That was my first idea that I might be able to entertain people,” he said.
In his teens Shaka hooked up with Freddie Cloudburst, one of the first generation of British sound systems run by immigrants from Jamaica. After getting to grips with the technical aspects, he soon graduated to choosing records and deejaying, forming his own Jah Shaka outfit in 1969, named after a 19th-century Zulu warrior.
Shaka’s venture was part of the second movement of British sound systems, set up by younger men who had spent most or all of their time in the UK. His “warrior style”, influenced by Black Power and Rastafarianism, epitomised the new breed of more serious-minded operators, determined to reflect the tastes and concerns of British black youth.
With huge speaker stacks, special effects and hypnotic bass, Shaka created a formidable “surround sound” that massaged the internal organs. Many other operators had a host of selectors and deejays to help them out, but Shaka did more or less everything himself. He would often be transported by the spiritual atmosphere he had generated, singing and dancing with abandon during sessions that could last up to 12 hours.
By the late 1970s Shaka’s sound system was regarded as one of the best in the country, and in 1980 he featured in the film Babylon, playing himself in a dancehall clash with a fictional rival, Ital Lion. That year he also launched his Jah Shaka Music label.
Later in the 1980s, as reggae moved into a more frivolous era in which “slackness” (sexualised lyrics) ruled and demand for his style of sound system waned, Shaka held to his more spartan path. He also set up the Jah Shaka Foundation, supporting projects in Jamaica, Ethiopia and Ghana.
By sticking to his principles he re-emerged with his reputation intact and with a new band of followers drawn from a wider fan base, including the US and Japan.
Despite some setbacks – he was injured in a house fire in 2000, and had much of his equipment stolen in 2006 – he continued to be booked up for gatherings and festivals, and had various engagements lined up at his death.