It’s easy to underestimate quite how much of an impact reggae has had on modern music, a genre that set the foundation for contemporary bass-driven sounds.  The London borough of Brent has played an oversized part in the story of reggae, and its development.

Our guest for this episode is Kwaku, a music historian specialising in Reggae Music and Black Music history and shares his knowledge about the role of the borough of Brent in the story of Reggae, and its place in music history. Like all these conversations, this was recorded over zoom, and we had some sound quality issues, but please bear with these as the stories Kwaku tells are worth staying for.

Over the course of the hour, we talk about the history of Brent and its music, as well as the record labels, distributors, artists, clubs and radio stations. Sadly, since the recording of the interview, one of the people Kwaku mentions, Gerry Anderson - who manned the counter of Hawkeye Records for nearly 45 years, passed away. Gerry’s passing is a great loss to Brent and the wider Reggae community.

You can find out more about Kwaku’s events here, and you can watch the video about Bristol’s Reggae Scene and the Brent Reggae Acts Video Compilation. A playlist featuring most of the music on the video is here

Music used:

Gardening Not Architecture - Visual Deception Unit

It’s My House - Storm Lovers

Back to Africa - Aswad

Don’t Let It Go To Your Head - Black Harmony

This Is Lovers Rock - Eargasm

Jay Wonderful - Delroy Washington

Wild Fire - KJ Sawka