0:00:00 > 0:00:03# Run the track... #
0:00:09 > 0:00:13Carnivals exist all over the world.
0:00:13 > 0:00:18But British Carnival is unique, because we've got sound systems.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22Well, a sound system is a mobile discotheque.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24..On steroids.
0:00:24 > 0:00:262,000-watt amplifier blazing.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28Amplifiers, speaker boxes...
0:00:28 > 0:00:30..that tops the tower, the tweeters.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32..mixers, a turntable.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34It's a collective.
0:00:34 > 0:00:35The whole package.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38A technician, a DJ, a mic man...
0:00:38 > 0:00:39It was a culture, it was a feeling.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41That is a sound system.
0:00:43 > 0:00:44Bless up, bless up.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48Junior Quaker sound system's arrived.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50Yeah, so tonight is celebrating
0:00:50 > 0:00:53the birthday of Emperor Haile Selassie.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57And obviously, the line-up tonight is Young Warrior, the son of Jah Shaka,
0:00:57 > 0:01:00and Junior Quaker, the son of Quaker City.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02And this has never happened before, with the sons now
0:01:02 > 0:01:06taking on the legacy with their own sound systems, with their own music.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09It's a hard job to be the sons of these legends,
0:01:09 > 0:01:11because they have done so...
0:01:11 > 0:01:17so much great things all over the UK and the world and internationally.
0:01:17 > 0:01:22So the load on our shoulders is very, very, VERY heavy.
0:01:28 > 0:01:33'Sound systems arrived in Britain from Jamaica in the mid-1950s.'
0:01:35 > 0:01:38Where I was living in Jamaica,
0:01:38 > 0:01:42there was a dance hall a couple miles away.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44So whenever they have dance over there,
0:01:44 > 0:01:49I could stay in my yard and hear the music from the sound system.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51Sound system initially started from the old days,
0:01:51 > 0:01:55like, having a jukebox outside your rum shop or whatever store you had.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58With the influx of Caribbean culture into the UK,
0:01:58 > 0:02:00they brought that culture with them.
0:02:00 > 0:02:01'But once here,
0:02:01 > 0:02:06'sound system provided a crucial link to home in the West Indies.'
0:02:08 > 0:02:11Sound system culture was very important because that was
0:02:11 > 0:02:13the only way we got to hear music from the Caribbean.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15Because that was how our music was exposed,
0:02:15 > 0:02:19because we didn't have much in terms of radio for our music.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23In those days, it was very important. It brought the community together.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26The sound systems was our Radio 1.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29We are always playing new music that they never hear before.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33So if you wanted to hear your, like, music that you associated with,
0:02:33 > 0:02:35you had to go and listen to sound systems.
0:02:35 > 0:02:36There's no other way, really.
0:02:36 > 0:02:41It was a very important part of the whole black experience
0:02:41 > 0:02:43here in the UK.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53'Sound systems also formed the basis for social life in black Britain.'
0:02:53 > 0:02:57Early '60s, there wasn't much recreation.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02They would then congregate at whoever's house to have a party.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05They borrowed a word from Ireland.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07It was a word called the shebeen,
0:03:07 > 0:03:10a private party in a basement somewhere,
0:03:10 > 0:03:11and that was a blues dance.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19You know, Britain was so divided and ridden by class and race.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21And there was a lot of victimisation.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25We would play at certain dances where the police would come
0:03:25 > 0:03:27and, um, just close us down.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30For me, the general concept of the sound system
0:03:30 > 0:03:32really was about self-empowerment.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36So we were playing under a lot of pressure to try
0:03:36 > 0:03:38and entertain our people.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41Music was their vehicle to let loose at the weekend,
0:03:41 > 0:03:43to really throw their hair down.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47It was like a little, um, window of lightness.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49A lot of the best parties weren't in clubs,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52they were just in spaces or warehouses or people's houses,
0:03:52 > 0:03:55and there'd always be a sound system brought to the event.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59You know, derelict houses and four floors of different sound systems,
0:03:59 > 0:04:00or even one sound.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02A man's wiring speaker up the staircase.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05And having a stack of speakers in the corner,
0:04:05 > 0:04:09and everyone used to put their coats on the speaker. On top...
0:04:09 > 0:04:11Used to have 100 coats on top of the speaker!
0:04:11 > 0:04:15Caribbeans started that, all the house party stuff,
0:04:15 > 0:04:16all the kind of rave culture.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18It was the Caribbeans that started all of that.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23'To become a part of a sound system meant serving a long apprenticeship,
0:04:23 > 0:04:25'starting at the very bottom.'
0:04:27 > 0:04:30How I started, I used to lift up boxes to get in.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33Cos that was my way into the sound system world.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39You know, I'm a sound system boy at heart.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43You know, I carried the speakers just like every other sound boy did.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46But, boy, it wasn't easy carrying them speakers. They were heavy!
0:04:46 > 0:04:48Mother's dumplings got to come into play.
0:04:48 > 0:04:49All right.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51You carry the boxes that contain the turntables,
0:04:51 > 0:04:53the boxes that contain the amplifiers, the mixers,
0:04:53 > 0:04:57and some may say, most importantly, the boxes that contained the records.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59These are all experiences, you know?
0:04:59 > 0:05:02And you have to go through them experiences before you can
0:05:02 > 0:05:04call yourself a sound man.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07'But to call yourself a sound man
0:05:07 > 0:05:11'could mean taking on a lifelong commitment.'
0:05:11 > 0:05:13In my sound system, it's very family-orientated.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17So we still use, um, people in my father's crew.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19This work that we do is very hard work.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23We're bringing the whole concert, so we got to bring everything.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25Not everybody can lift our boxes,
0:05:25 > 0:05:27not everybody knows what wire goes into what, or...
0:05:27 > 0:05:30And we can't take that risk for things to be dropped or damaged.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34So, only skilled individuals who has helped us along the way
0:05:34 > 0:05:36can actually do this.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39So our collective of helpers is quite small.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48'The collective nature of the sound system created a tight family bond
0:05:48 > 0:05:49'between the crew.'
0:05:51 > 0:05:55The brotherhood of sound system and us as a DJ crew
0:05:55 > 0:05:58and a group of guys, it's...it's deep.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01I can't overemphasise, it's the collective.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04And that's what the difference is between your usual DJ
0:06:04 > 0:06:06and what a true sound system is.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08In those days,
0:06:08 > 0:06:12a lot of the youths had something to put their energy into.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14They went and bought records, they built boxes,
0:06:14 > 0:06:18they were looking for tunes, they were in their house playing music.
0:06:18 > 0:06:19They weren't on the streets.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22Kept a lot of people out of trouble...as well.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24- Yeah, me too. - Yes, the sound...
0:06:24 > 0:06:26And you had an identity.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29So the excitement was going to the events with the crew.
0:06:29 > 0:06:30- You're a... - BOTH: ..ghetto celebrity.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37We'd walk down Oxford Street and people want to take their...
0:06:37 > 0:06:38You know, people want your autograph.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42And then getting onto the next stage of being part of the
0:06:42 > 0:06:44DJ fraternity, learning to play music, learning to mix,
0:06:44 > 0:06:48and then get behind the decks and then start to entertain.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50I love sound system business.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54I love all the other sound men, because we need each other.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Yeah, you know, I'd like to think that I've earned my stripes.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58Nice times, nice times.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04'Once admitted into the brotherhood of sound, roles were distinct
0:07:04 > 0:07:06'and highly specialised.'
0:07:08 > 0:07:11You've got the MC, the mic controller,
0:07:11 > 0:07:13the master of ceremonies, the mic man.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16His job was to control the vibe.
0:07:16 > 0:07:21I'm the one who speaks, introduces the tune, then talks to the people.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26Boom - make it happen to the crowd, or to the people, or to the party.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29And the selector is someone who actually chose the records that
0:07:29 > 0:07:30the DJ played.
0:07:30 > 0:07:31Scanning the crowd...
0:07:31 > 0:07:34And make sure that the crowd are having a good experience,
0:07:34 > 0:07:35a good time.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38Finding out what the people want and giving it to the people.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40To keep the audience bubbling.
0:07:40 > 0:07:41Yeah!
0:07:41 > 0:07:46Then you would have a technician, someone who would fix the amps
0:07:46 > 0:07:49and maintain the electrical components.
0:07:51 > 0:07:56'But in an age before downloads and streaming, the DJ had to work
0:07:56 > 0:08:00'hard to provide his sound with a steady supply of fresh ammunition.'
0:08:02 > 0:08:06What distinguished you as a DJ was your record collection
0:08:06 > 0:08:09and how you presented that music.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12I've gone as far as Jamaica to find a tune.
0:08:12 > 0:08:17You know, so it's a constant search for...for beats.
0:08:17 > 0:08:23You know, a record like Ketch Vampire by Devon Irons was the most exquisite
0:08:23 > 0:08:25bit of music you've ever heard,
0:08:25 > 0:08:27but there were only 200 of them ever made.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30# Jah Jah sent us here to catch vampire... #
0:08:30 > 0:08:34And so if you found a copy of that, you know,
0:08:34 > 0:08:35there'd be people willing to do
0:08:35 > 0:08:37practically anything to get it off you.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39You had to be quick to get...
0:08:39 > 0:08:43Whoever came first, you know, and it was just exchanging.
0:08:43 > 0:08:44You got that, I got that...
0:08:44 > 0:08:47A man would all give his watch if he didn't have money.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51Enough people were hunting... They go crazy for vinyl like this.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53It was hustling, but hustling for the music,
0:08:53 > 0:08:55to make sure the thing was exclusive.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58I would never give away my vinyl. Never, ever.
0:08:58 > 0:09:03'So powerful were the sound systems, both in status and sheer volume,
0:09:03 > 0:09:06'that producers would give them dubplates -
0:09:06 > 0:09:09'test pressings of unreleased records.'
0:09:09 > 0:09:13So a dubplate is something that is not released.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Or a new record that's not out yet, cut on an acetate.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19And say, you know... Before they released it, they used to say,
0:09:19 > 0:09:22"Test this on your sound and see how the crowd feel it."
0:09:22 > 0:09:26So it was a way for musical producers and artistes
0:09:26 > 0:09:30to get their music made and played out to the wider public.
0:09:30 > 0:09:35# Chase those crazy baldheads out of town... #
0:09:35 > 0:09:40And Bob Marley was a good friend of mine, you know? We played him first.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43And come to the dance, hear it coming through the big speaker.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46And he would say, "Boy, that's so wicked!" You know what I mean?
0:09:46 > 0:09:47And, you know, yeah...
0:09:49 > 0:09:54'But the ultimate status symbol was the special - a one-off exclusive
0:09:54 > 0:09:58'recorded specifically to big up a particular sound system.'
0:09:58 > 0:10:02We'd approach an artist and ask him to sing about our sound system.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05A one-away special no-one else can have.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07The greater the credibility of the artist, it's the greater
0:10:07 > 0:10:09the credibility of the sounds.
0:10:09 > 0:10:14You would have special records made by the artist, specifically
0:10:14 > 0:10:15for a specific event.
0:10:15 > 0:10:20It's only your sound playing it, which enhances your sound again.
0:10:20 > 0:10:21But then it goes deeper than that.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23You kind of get things called in the chorus.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25Janet is a singer.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27She would do a song specifically for that sound,
0:10:27 > 0:10:31where she would be extolling the virtues of that sound.
0:10:35 > 0:10:41'Coming from Jamaica, the original sound systems played one style only.'
0:10:41 > 0:10:45The sound system fraternity at that time was all generally around reggae.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49We were listening to Coxsone at the age of 14, 15,
0:10:49 > 0:10:51and we thought it was great.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54One of the foundation sound system pioneers.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58The sound system culture...talking about equipments and putting the
0:10:58 > 0:11:01sound together and going to Jamaica and getting music,
0:11:01 > 0:11:04he was one of them. He was one of the forefathers of this.
0:11:04 > 0:11:10Because he had a slogan to say, "We don't play English music.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14"We only play strictly Jamaican, strictly pre-release,
0:11:14 > 0:11:16"strictly dubwise."
0:11:16 > 0:11:20So we are only doing what we learn from Jamaica.
0:11:20 > 0:11:25'But second and third-generation West Indians started using what they'd
0:11:25 > 0:11:27'learned from their fathers and their uncles
0:11:27 > 0:11:30'to build their own sound systems and to play new styles.'
0:11:30 > 0:11:33Well, if you don't play dub and if you don't play reggae,
0:11:33 > 0:11:36you can still be a sound system. A sound system is the system,
0:11:36 > 0:11:40which means the boxes that is the equipment.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43We're not all Jamaicans. We're not all from one island.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45We're a big, big conglomerate
0:11:45 > 0:11:49of the whole of the Afro-Caribbean, Africa... All over the place.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51The sound system started in Jamaica,
0:11:51 > 0:11:54but it was always going to get a little UK interpretation.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56We wanted to bring something different to the party
0:11:56 > 0:12:00and became one of the first sound systems to be strictly R&B,
0:12:00 > 0:12:02soul, then evolved into hip-hop.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06We brought the hip-hop thing to the two turntables and a mixer,
0:12:06 > 0:12:11and DJs who had skills to the sound system thing.
0:12:11 > 0:12:16It wasn't just about putting a record on and slamming it into the next one.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20No, it was thought about, structure.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24Reggae sounds used to respec' us - I say that, respec', without the T -
0:12:24 > 0:12:27respec' us because of the quality of sound that we had.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31People were receptive to it, so it made us realise that, do you know
0:12:31 > 0:12:37what, the sound system thing doesn't just have to be about reggae music.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40OK now, this is how it work...
0:12:40 > 0:12:44'With so many sounds vying for pre-eminence, competition between the
0:12:44 > 0:12:49'systems has always been celebrated in the ritual of the sound clash.'
0:12:49 > 0:12:52The whole kind of sound system culture is quite competitive.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56Yeah, we have respect for each other, but when we string up,
0:12:56 > 0:13:00that respect gone aside, because everyone want to come out the best.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02You know, maybe two, maybe three,
0:13:02 > 0:13:06maybe four sound systems all string up in one hall.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09Who gets the most crowd applause, who gets the most crowd...
0:13:09 > 0:13:10Who appeals to the crowd more.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12You know, who plays the biggest songs on the night.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16You've got to move the crowd, because if you don't have the crowd
0:13:16 > 0:13:19on your side, you're going to be shown up by the other guy.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23Now you're going to prove who is the best sound in the country.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27How many speaker boxes I had, how many 18 inches, what my wattage was,
0:13:27 > 0:13:29how LOUD I was.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32Some of these sound systems would make your gut shake.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36There was rivalry. Friendly rivalry. Not in a disrespectful way.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38We clashed with Shaka,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41we clashed with Fat Man, Coxsone...
0:13:41 > 0:13:43We modelled off Coxsone.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46There was a lot of great sound in London.
0:13:46 > 0:13:52Aba Shanti, Jah Tubby's, Jah Warrior...
0:13:52 > 0:13:54They were only great in London.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58We was like one of the Midlands sounds that would be holding
0:13:58 > 0:14:01up the Midlands against these... the force of London.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05I mash it and come back to London and stand up as number one sound.
0:14:05 > 0:14:06# Amazing grace
0:14:06 > 0:14:08# Shot fly tru face
0:14:08 > 0:14:12- # The sound of... # - Boom, boom!
0:14:12 > 0:14:17When we're preparing for a clash, I can tell you this - I get nervous.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23It can be like a football match.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25You play soccer the whole year
0:14:25 > 0:14:28and then you reach Wembley for that final.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31What I'd say is that every sound you can think of...
0:14:31 > 0:14:33- We've killed it. - ..we've killed them.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36If I feel nervous, right, when I get hold of you in a dance,
0:14:36 > 0:14:38I'm going to kill you.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41If we ain't killed them, we're coming for ya! Ha-ha!
0:14:41 > 0:14:43You've gotta have a little controversy.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45It's gotta be controversy or else...life's not good.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49So we've got our sound system, we've got our dubplates, we got our team.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53You'd have to build some piece of new amplifier,
0:14:53 > 0:14:55build some new speakers...
0:14:55 > 0:14:59fly out to Jamaica to cut the latest tune.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02So, therefore, I'm going to kill you with this dubplate.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04That's our weapon, is the music.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07And then the tune starts, and then they may change the lyrics
0:15:07 > 0:15:11of a tune, and then it just mentions "Boogie Bunch", and that's it.
0:15:11 > 0:15:12It's just chaos.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15Wha...?!
0:15:16 > 0:15:17One-off records.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19When you have a sound clash and you pull out a special,
0:15:19 > 0:15:20the crowd goes wild.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23And it's almost like the whole place elevates.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26You know, you're literally like you've lifted off the ground.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30You know, our biggest rivals of the day were the Rampage.
0:15:30 > 0:15:35It's ridiculously powerful to hear the artist say,
0:15:35 > 0:15:40"That sound is rubbish!" in colourful language.
0:15:40 > 0:15:41It's ridiculously powerful,
0:15:41 > 0:15:45and people in the dance will go mad because it's made for them.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47It's a one-off event. It's historic.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50You go for it, using the music to the best of your ability, and at the end,
0:15:50 > 0:15:53you're supposed to shake and hug and, "Yeah, man, big up and one love.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55"And you know what? We're gonna catch you next time.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57"Next time, we're gonna fix you up."
0:15:57 > 0:16:00It's what clashing's really supposed to be about. That's the essence.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04'History, culture, brotherhood, community,
0:16:04 > 0:16:07'sound systems have got the lot.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11'And for two days at the end of every summer, the streets
0:16:11 > 0:16:13'of west London jump to their basslines.'
0:16:14 > 0:16:17Know where you're coming from and you'll know where you're going.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20Sound system has still got a bright future.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23With the legacy, we can't let it die, we can't let it fail.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26We just have to do our best and represent the legacy properly.