Dub London — Bassline of a city
Just before lockdown, I ended up at the Dub London — Bassline of a City exhibition at the Museum of London. It was so refreshing to be in a space dedicated to the sounds of Dub music — a genre which adds to the unique social history of London…
The display itself is fashioned after a reggae shop, which the style of interpretation makes several references to. From my images below, you can see examples of this from the huge sound system to the vinyl inspired interpretative text. Drawing from Jamaican sound system culture, ‘the ‘dub’ sound was born from the B-sides of reggae records’ — a sound which flourished in London during the 60s. ‘Vocals were ‘dubbed’ out by the sound engineer, leaving [the] bassline and drumbeat as a springboard for sonic exploration’ (Museum of London, 2020). Be sure to check out DJ Queen Rankin Merva, Jah Shaka and Mad Professor to truly hear the sound of Dub.
Despite the compact space, a lot of content was covered throughout the exhibition. At the beginning, there was a brief section on the Rastafari religion — which was introduced to international audiences via reggae and Dub music. Migration from the Caribbean to England was also noted. As well as the adjustment to life in Britain; from the development of supplementary schools to the dissolution of young Black Londoners during the 1970s. Music (and Dub poetry) captured and expressed Black experiences from the 70s onwards, which included racism and discrimination across British society.
Around the corner, Mad Professor was behind the deck (where I imagine the cash register would be in this fictional record shop). It had honestly been so long since I had a) seen a live DJ and b) been in a space with actual vinyl records. Of course, I opened Shazam during this section and I managed to catch ‘Kunte Kinte’ by Mad Professor.
The final part of the exhibition highlighted two visual examples of documenting the history of Dub. Firstly, a collage of 2D marketing material covers the remaining walls and serves as a backdrop. Secondly, a series of photographs are displayed on this collage — drawing this visual history together. Photographers on display include:
- Eddie Otchere
- Peter Marshall
- Sydney Orleans Harding
- Dennis Morris
Although I didn’t grow up during the 70s, I really appreciate Dub’s influence in shaping London’s social history. And this became more apparent during an accidental (but lovely) conversation I had with a staff member about their experience of sound system culture. For me, Dub music is a powerful example of how a genre can develop as a direct result of migration and responding to a new context, sonically.
