The first generation of Rastafarians shunned society altogether and instead lived up in the hills of the Jamaican countryside. Their hermitic lifestyle made them the boogieman of Jamaican popular culture in the forties and fifties, inspiring their nickname - the dreadman. In the early sixties a young man named Oswald "Count Ossie" Williams left the Rastafarian commune where he had been raised and set up a new home in the city of Kingston. He brought a collection of African drums and his own knowledge of traditional chanting. The local rude boys and ska singers became fascinated by Count Ossie. They would gather in his yard to hear about Rastafarianism, smoke ganja, and play drums. In this way many of the young Jamaican musicians of the sixties converted to Rastafarianism, which was exotic and disestablishmentary. This generation did not head for the hills. They continued to drink, fight, and hustle. But they grew their hair and incorporated African music and culture into their style.Ras Michael was a young man who was deeply inspired by Count Ossie. Michael continued the tradition of Nyabinghi drumming and singing in Amharic (an Ethiopian language) but also incorporated jazz, soul, and funk. Here are two of his most downtown songs from the seventies.
Tennaessalyn |
Boma Yah |