Moon Author's Review
Conscious Reggae is back in the limelight after nearly 20 years in the backseat -- thanks to steadfast artists and promoters like Worrel King who have stood by the principles established by the genre's early pioneers. Starting around the time of Bob Marley's death in 1981, the reggae industry was taken over by dancehall artists like Shabba Ranks and Yellowman. The style of these artists' lyrics signified a departure from roots reggae, with its messages of truth and progress, to an often violent and sexually explicit form of music that became known as "slackness." When Peter Tosh was killed six years later in 1987, dancehall had taken over, and conscious reggae music was like yesterday's news. It was around that time that Worrel King founded King of Kings Promotions to try to rescue the truth from the mire.
King of Kings hit the ground running in 1988, organizing a very successful event at Titchfield High School in Port Antonio dubbed Eastern Consciousness, which showcased several artists, all of whom displayed some conscious leaning. "It was to attract people who needed to be uplifted, rather than just wasting away gyrating," King says. After a second successful Eastern Consciousness the following year, King took the event to Westmoreland, the parish of his birth, where he says the people were yearning for it. King describes his work as being guided by the hand of the Most High Jah, but says it has not been an easy road as consciousness is not something that sells easily. Nevertheless, the success of these early conscious stage shows has been mirrored in a multitude of other annual events inspired directly or indirectly by Eastern Consciousness. These include East Fest, held in Morant Bay and organized by Morgan Heritage, and Rebel Salute, held at the Port Kaiser sports ground in Saint Elizabeth and organized by Tony Rebel. Both events have a decidedly "conscious" theme rarely challenged by the invited performers. "I look at artists that have been depicting consciousness," King says, "I don't look only at the hardcore consciousness, but at those who have the repertoire of conscious songs -- even Beenie Man has a good 40-minute set that depicts consciousness -- he performed at Western Consciousness as Ras Moses -- it's not just those artists that are hardcore roots."
In 2006, King succeeded in bringing producer/performer extraordinaire Lee Scratch Perry back to Jamaica to perform for the first time in decades. King says he was termed a madman when he first suggested bringing Scratch home to perform, not any less given that many consider Scratch himself mad. After meeting with Scratch and his manager wife however, King said, "If he was mad that was the kind of madness I wanted to work with."
King has also created other concert events, including Tribute, dedicated to Peter Tosh. The free event held yearly in Sav's Independence Park is meant to showcase reggae sanity. In addition to the concert there is a Peter Tosh Symposium at the University of Westmoreland, which looks at the intellectual side of Peter Tosh and also highlights the work of other artists such as Burning Spear and Lee Scratch Perry. The event has drawn attendees from the highest levels, including finance minister Omar Davies, a self-proclaimed Tosh scholar. The Tribute concert is held on the Saturday closest to Peter Tosh's October 19 birthday, with the symposium held the previous Saturday.
