Flashing My Whip

Just in time for warmer weather!
I received a ton of classic reggae for my birthday yesterday. The songs help form a perfect soundtrack for summer, which may yet arrive in Dubuque (yesterday's low temperature of 21 degrees was the coldest May day of all-time in the tri-state area).
Among the birthday items I received was the Trojan D.J. Box Set. Innovative Jamaican soundsystem deejays developed a new musical sub-genre in the late 1960s and early 1970s: They took the instrumental tracks from previous Jamaican hit songs and overdubbed their own unique vocal style, creating a new composition in the process.
Their shouts, boasts and simple singing is called "toasting" and we wouldn't have the current hip-hop musical style without it.
Pictured above is an original deejay single, U-Roy's "Flashing My Whip," from 1971. U-Roy (Ewart Beckford) toasted over The Paragon's rocksteady hit "Only a Smile." He playfully demands the vocal trio put a smile on their face, in opposition to the heartbreak of their original song.
Posted by Hello