Kabaka Pyramid’s Rotation: Classic Dancehall with a Modern Reggae Twist

The 70s marked a change in reggae music as it moved from roots to dancehall reggae. Dancehall stripped back the beats, added dub in some cases, upped the energy and shifted themes from large political issues to everyday life. This will later evolve with Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and The Upsetters with their dub sound. As time moved on reggae has moved closer and closer to American hip hop and R&B. Within the last 5 or so years artists like Koffee, Protoje and Kabaka Pyramid have been taking reggae back to structures made popular in the 70s, 80s and 90s. In his latest track, Pyramid puts out his most traditional dance hall track yet.

Musically, Rotation follows all the hallmarks of classic reggae. We have that 4/4 hitting on the down beat…complete with a horn section. The beat and the horns give the track a great energy. There are occasional percussion, synth line and record scratches that gives the track that slight dub flavour. Having said that, everything hangs off a killer bass line, which harkens back to 70s dancehall where bass was king and it was all about energy.

Lyrically, this follows the dancehall playbook. There are no larger political / activist themes…even though Kabaka has a well developed activist streak in his music…but a celebration of reggae and how it can heal the world. This is about uniting under music and treating each other with respect, which is as ground level as you get. Now, I love reggae songs that are all about how great reggae is, so this hits a sweet spot for me.

Even though this is quite a simple song musically and lyrically, it hits all the emotional notes you want. Plus, the beat is infectious and the horns really punctuate the action. This is a track you want to groove to. Will it heal the world? Maybe. Will it heal your soul? Definitely.

Listen to Rotation