Miles a way from the birth place of Reggae, the reaction is still the same when “3 little birds” by Bob Marley plays. The simple but motivational lyrics is an easy sing a long no matter where in the world you are. Check out this clip when “3 little birds” played at this beach party in Japan back in 2012.
I think it was the first time I went to a Reggae beach party in Japan. Unlike Jamaica, they didn’t take over the entire beach like many big brand parties would, but they had a beach house/ bar that had its block of the beach and also made a way for them to charge an entry fee to get into the house where the “cool kids” were. But me with my "Jamaican privileged” self, told the guys at the entrance I was a DJ, I wasn’t lying, just not for this party 😂. Well yeah, I think he knew I wasn’t DJing but he realized I was Jamaican and just let me in. ( why do Jamaicans like to do that ? 😆)
Below are the friends I went with. Unfortunately that privilege didn’t work for them. But I went in , scoped out the party and then signaled to them “it a gwaan”. The picture below is the exact moment I told them “it’s worth it”.
The husband has tons of Reggae records and still spins up to this day. He goes by the name Ken45. They invited me to the event as they knew, as a Jamaican , I love Reggae & I love di 🏖! Give thanks, kinda sorry I left them outside for a bit but I told them what I was up to, it also gave them tune to be “alone” . These two now own their own hair salon 💇♀️ and trust me, hair salons here make 🏦. Pandemic or not.
This lady was looking too brim, had to take a shot. I probably had an iPhone 3G then, but yeah the liquor didn’t help with getting a good shot. If I could turn back the hands of time 🤭!
The sound system that was playing at the time was MasterPiece sound I believe. An interesting thing about most Japanese sounds is that they have their own clothing lines. I was gifted a jacket from the MasterPiece line some years back and let me tell it is maddd. Jamaican colors on the cuffs and around the neck. I think Mighty Crown Sound started that clothing line trend here. Interestingly I got some free gear from Mighty Crown once and let me tell you, that Irie Life brand ain’t no joke!
Just like in Jamaica, when the Dancehall gets thrown in the mix, the Gyal dem get wild. I can’t lie, I miss going to Reggae parties. I used to be on the scene a lot here as I MC-ed and Dj-ed. I also know many of the Reggae party promoters. But to be honest, the Reggae seen was drying up the last couple of years. Nothing like it used to be 10 years ago. But it will be back, there are waves to every trend and there is a whole new generation of Dancers , DJs and artiste ready to tek it to dem.
It’s kinda crazy to think about it! This picture of Mt. Fuji In the back drop, and people coming together to share a common interest in Reggae music and culture. It’s a real joy to see how far the culture has come. Jah bless the people music, Reggae music, roots & culture to the style and trends.
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