Showtime
University of Liverpool (UK)
Showtime is a documentary record of a dancehall based club night in London that took place in June 2011. The event was hosted by the Heatwave crew who regularly promote reggae dancehall events and also present a show on London's Rinse FM. The DVD sleeve notes explain that the event was intended to be an "explosion of UK dancehall history, bringing together legends from every era of UK rave music to share the mic and spit lyrics over classic dancehall riddims" (Jackson 2011). In common with the 2008 Soul Jazz Records release An England Story (also compiled by Heatwave) the event sets out to showcase the evolution of the UK MC from '80s UK reggae to the current generation of grime MCs. Simon Reynolds identifies a range of Jamaican musical practices that have been integrated into UK dance music from hardcore onwards in his book Energy Flash, but in this documentary the MC is the focus. A potentially confusing point for the non-aficionado is that in reggae sound system parlance MCs are called DJs. So, textual references to reggae artists that rap (or chat) will often refer to them as DJs. I'll use the term MC throughout this review.
Early UK hip-hop was often hindered by the MC's clumsy attempts at adopting an American accent, Derek B's 1988 hit "Good Groove" being one example of this phenomenon. UK MCs subsequently found their voice by incorporating influences from Jamaican culture. Jamaican street style has been influential in the UK for many years, and patois has gradually been incorporated into UK street vernacular. The integration and incorporation of Jamaican culture into British youth culture is well documented by academics such as Les Back, who has explored black music, youth culture and syncretism in the UK.
The DVD is dedicated to UK reggae artist Smiley Culture, who died in questionable circumstances in 2011. The origins of the UK MC style lie in the "fast chat" vocal style popularized by Smiley Culture and his associates. This style is considered to have originated from vocalists associated with the UK's Saxon sound system in the 1980s. There was a rapid development in the credibility of UK "urban" music once UK-based MCs looked to their (or their peers') Jamaican ancestry and started to base their style on a hybrid British/Jamaican syncretic template that was informed by dancehall reggae. MCs became an integral part of the UK's rave scene in the late 1980s, and this continued in the 1990s, as the MC became a key feature of jungle and drum and bass clubbing. Interestingly, this was despite drum and bass releases generally being instrumentals, or using sampled vocals, as the producer was the focal point in most drum and bass recordings. In a live scenario the sound system ethos held sway, and the interaction between the DJ, MC and the crowd was of central importance. The centrality of the live MC in a club environment continued as UK garage and its sub-styles evolved. Although grime is often seen as a form of hip-hop it owes a greater cultural debt to reggae, and this film offers a useful and entertaining visual and aural lesson on the influence of Jamaican culture on the contemporary UK bass music scene. Simon Reynolds has coined the term "hardcore continuum" to explain the chronological influence of Jamaican musical practices on UK dance music: "I've argued that the hardcore continuum is a UK adaption of the Jamaican system". (Reynolds 2010: 70). This film reinforces the validity of his observations.
Showtime mainly consists of live footage mixed with short interview segments with a number of the featured MCs. The performers range from '80s UK reggae artist Asher Senator to grime MCs such as Wiley and Flow Dan. Jungle, UK garage and dancehall MCs are also featured. The backing tracks are predominantly oriented towards dancehall, although there are also grime instrumentals incorporated into the set, such as Wiley's "Ice Rink". The show incorporates sound system practices, notably numerous "rewinds", and, unlike the DJ practices of other genres, seamless multi-deck mixing isn't the objective. From the brief interview segments the centrality of sound system culture and pirate radio to the emergence of UK bass music styles becomes clear. Early in the DVD Lady Chann comments that with out Smiley Culture there wouldn't be grime MCs, and Wiley also acknowledges the influence of dancehall on his own performance practice. DJs Chris Goldfinger and David Rodigan are identified as particularly influential in popularizing Jamaican music in recent years. Various interviewees acknowledge key UK sound systems like Saxon and Coxsone as having had a considerable influence on the evolution of the UK scene, as well as acknowledging pirate radio's impact. Refreshingly, female dancehall MCs are featured in the show and interviewed at some length.
Essentially, this film offers an oral history that validates many aspects of Simon Reynolds' hardcore continuum: "It's a particular set of relations based around pirate radio, dubplates, raves and rave-style clubs, along with certain kinds of music-making technology" (Reynolds 2010: 70). The film also illustrates the syncretic nature of the UK bass music scene. The DVD could be useful as a teaching resource to explore syncretic culture, or to anyone interested in the various Jamaican-inflected strands of UK dance music. The film makes clear the links between reggae-influenced contemporary dance music styles and their precursors, which can be helpful when trying to explain to students the formative influences that paved the way for dubstep. A notable omission from the event's line up is that there weren't any MCs representing the UK hip-hop scene, as artists such as Blak Twang and Roots Manuva also demonstrate a clear Jamaican influence in their work. The logistics of booking the sixteen featured MCs would have been challenging enough I'm sure, without covering every possible base. An interesting point that can be gleaned from the audience shots on the DVD and from photographs on Heatwave's website is the demographic at the events they promote. In contrast to dancehall's "traditional" core Jamaican audience, Heatwave's audiences demonstrate a crossover into a young multicultural demographic. Coincidentally, in June 2013 UK dancehall artist Stylo G achieved a top twenty chart position demonstrating that the impact of Jamaican music on the UK's popular music landscape continues. If we consider that this process started with Millie Small's "My Boy Lollipop", this is a cultural dialogue that has lasted almost half a century.
Back, Les. 1996. New Ethnicities and Urban Culture: Social Identity and Racism in the Lives of Young People. London: Routledge.
Reynolds, Simon. 1998. Energy Flash. London: Picador.
Reynolds, Simon. 2010. "The History of Our World: The Hardcore Continuum Debate". Dancecult 1(2): 69–76. <http://dx.doi.org/10.12801/1947-5403.2010.01.02.05> (accessed 12 July 2013).
Derek B. 1988. Good Groove. Music of Life (7-inch): 7 NOTE 12. <http://www.discogs.com/Derek-B-Good-Groove/release/230258>.
Millie Small. 1964. My Boy Lollipop. Fontana (7-inch): 267 331 TF. <http://www.discogs.com/Millie-My-Boy-Lollipop/release/763685>.
Various. 2008. An England Story. Soul Jazz Records (CD COMP): SJR CD 177. <http://www.discogs.com/Various-An-England-Story/release/1990379>.
Wiley Kat. 2003. Eskiboy/Ice Rink. Wiley Kat Records (12-inch): WK015. <http://www.discogs.com/Wiley-Kat-Eskiboy-Ice-Rink/release/692408>.