[Column] Dancehall and sound systems—Bass moves the world

Column en Dancehall Jamaica Reggae SoundSystem

05 Nov 2025

[Column] Dancehall and sound systems—Bass moves the world

Prologue: Revolution starting with bass

Text: mmr

Theme: Dancehall is more than just a music genre, it’s about the philosophy of hope that “everyone can have their own sound.”

Kingston at midnight. A rumbling bass is emitted from a speaker mounted on the bed of a truck. It was ““another radio’’ that echoed on the streets of poverty. People without newspapers or television can share information and exchange messages through sound. A sound system is an expression device that integrates music, politics, and community. Eventually, the waves would cross the ocean and shake London, New York, and even Tokyo.

This column introduces the sound system culture that was born on the streets of Jamaica. How did dancehall evolve into a worldwide musical phenomenon? We will follow it from the perspectives of history, ideology, technology, and society.

Chapter 1 Birth of the sound system (1940s-1960s)

▪ The moment street parties become “culture”

In post-war Jamaica, record store owners and young music lovers loaded up trucks, set up speakers, and started playing music all night. This is the origin of the “sound system”.

A typical initial system is:

Operator	Name	Activity period	Characteristics
Tom the Great Sebastian	1950s	Mainly jazz and R&B. The earliest “mobile” systems
Duke Reid	Duke Reid the Trojan	1950s-60s	A famous gun-wielding operator who graduated from the police force. Later founded Treasure Isle
Clement “Coxsone” Dodd	Sir Coxsone Downbeat	1950s~	Former Studio One. Leading the ska era

▪ Local economy and community

For the poor, dance is not just entertainment, but a place of expression and survival. This space, where music, alcohol, and food circulated, later became the prototype of the reggae industry.

Chapter 2 Roots Rock and Dub Era (1970s)

▪ Sound engineers become “composers”

King Tubby, Lee Perry, Errol Thompson and others used the mixing table like a musical instrument and invented a new sonic expression called ““dub.’’ Erasing the vocals and reconstructing the rhythm with echoes—This idea became the starting point for later remix culture.

“Dub is the space where the spirit speaks.” — Lee Perry

▪ Speaker bass philosophy

The “bass” of the sound system had a religious sound. Connected with the Rastafarian spirit, they express their view of the universe as ““low tone = earth” and ““treble tone = heaven”. This idea was later inherited by UK dub (Jah Shaka, Aba Shanti-I) and soundclash culture.

Chapter 3 Digital revolution and the emergence of dancehall (1980s-90s)

▪ Slackness and slang explosion

In 1985, Wayne Smith’s ““Under Mi Sleng Teng’‘ changed everything. This song, which uses Casio MT-40’s rhythm presets, is said to be the first completely digital reggae in history, and from then on, ““digital dancehall’’ became mainstream.

Year	Representative song	Artist	Notes
1985	Under Mi Sleng Teng	Wayne Smith	World’s first digital riddim
1986	Punanny	Admiral Bailey	Symbol of “Slackness”
1990	Dem Bow	Shabba Ranks	Later to become the basic rhythm of reggaeton

▪ MC (Deejay) takes center stage

Toasting culture approached DJ rap and influenced the birth of hip-hop. It is a well-known story that Jamaican Kool Herc brought a sound system to New York’s Bronx and started the breakbeat culture.

Chapter 4 Sound Clash and the Deepening of Deejay Culture

▪ Clash = Battle of Sound

Sound Clash is an event where multiple sound systems compete against each other. The difference between winning and losing is how many Original Dub Plate (special recordings) you have and how much you can excite the audience.

Representative sounds:

Stone Love Movement (Kingston)
Bass Odyssey (St. Ann)
Killamanjaro (90s golden era)
Mighty Crown (Japan)

▪ Japan”s feat: Mighty Crown”s world domination

Mighty Crown from Yokohama defeated a Jamaican team to win the 2002 World Clash. It was the moment when the ““foreigner sound’’ reached its peak for the first time. Since then, local sounds have been born all over Japan, and a cultural area called ““Reggae Village’’ has been formed.

Chapter 5 Globalizing Dancehall (2000s-2020s)

▪ Impact on global pop

Sean Paul, Vybz Kartel, Popcaan and others took the mainstream by storm. In the 2010s, Drake”s ““One Dance” and Major Lazer”s ““Lean On” made dancehall pop. The rhythm pattern “Dem Bow” has been extended to reggaeton, Afrobeats, and K-Pop.

▪ Bass as Diaspora

Dancehall is also a symbol of immigrant culture. London, Toronto, Tokyo—Black communities in cities around the world have been expressing their roots in low notes.

Chapter 6 Sound system culture in Japan and Asia

▪ Reggae goes local

Since the 1990s, sound culture has taken root in Japan, mainly in Yokohama, Osaka, and Nagoya. Homemade sound systems equipped with giant woofers are appearing one after another at club events and outdoor festivals.

Main Japanese players:

Mighty Crown (Yokohama)
Sound Platinum, Infinity 16, King Ryukyu, Scorpion
Outdoor festivals “Yokohama Reggae Sai”, “Japan Splash”, etc.

▪ DIY spirit and modern inheritance

In recent years, it has intersected with dubstep/techno. Tokyo Dub Attack, Zettai-Mu (Osaka), Mura Masa System (Okinawa) are currently active. At the root of this is the sound system philosophy of ““producing our own sounds with our own hands.’’

Timeline: The evolution of sound systems and dancehall

Years	Events	Key Persons
1940s	Birth of sound system culture	Tom the Great Sebastian
1950s	Duke Reid, Coxsone begins	Duke Reid, Coxsone Dodd
1960s	Ska → Rocksteady → Reggae	The Skatalites
1970s	Birth of Dub, penetration of Rasta ideology	King Tubby, Lee Perry
1980s	Digital Revolution, “Sleng Teng”	Wayne Smith
1990s	Dancehall’s golden age, Mighty Crown emerges	Shabba Ranks, Beenie Man
2000s	Global pop	Sean Paul, Elephant Man
2010s	Global Dancehall / Reggaeton era	Popcaan, Drake
2020s	Rise of local DIY sound	Mura Masa System and others

Diagram: Evolutionary genealogy of dancehall music

graph TD A[Sound System
(1940s)] --> B[Ska
(1960s)] B --> C[Reggae / Dub
(1970s)] C --> D[Dancehall
(1980s)] D --> E[Global Dancehall
(2000s)] E --> F[Reggaeton / Afrobeats
(2010s~)] D --> G[Japanese Sound System culture
(1990s~)]

Conclusion: Where is the bass heading?

A sound system is more than just audio equipment. It is an infrastructure of self-expression and a symbol of resistance and solidarity. On street corners with no electricity or studios, people amplify their voices, dance and celebrate. That energy is what gave birth to hip-hop, gave birth to reggaeton, And it has been passed down to today’s EDM and Afrobeats.

If you trace the origin of the bass that roars at festival venues around the world, You will definitely end up at night in Kingston. Music is a ““body memory’’ that is shared across borders.

“Sound system is not just sound — it”s survival.”

Domestic sound system power chart in Japan

graph TD A["Japanese Sound System culture
(1990s~)"] --> B["Kanto area"] A --> C["Kansai area"] A --> D["Chubu/Tokai area"] A --> E["Kyushu/Okinawa area"] A --> F["Hokkaido/Tohoku area"] %% Kanto B --> B1["Mighty Crown
(Yokohama, 1991~)"] B --> B2["Infinity 16
(Tokyo, 1998〜)"] B --> B3["Rub-A-Dub Market / Bass Camp"] B --> B4["Tokyo Dub Attack
(Dub/Roots Lineage)"] %% Kansai C --> C1["Zettai-Mu
(Osaka Underground)"] C --> C2["King Jam / Emperor
(Osaka Sound Clash Line)"] C --> C3["Rudeboy Face / Ninja Man Japan"] %% Chubu/Tokai D --> D1["Burn Down
(Nara–Nagoya Axis)"] D --> D2["Scorpion Int'l / Nagoya King Bass"] %% Kyushu/Okinawa E --> E1["Mura Masa System
(Okinawa, 2000s~)"] E --> E2["King Ryukyu / Tropixx"] %% Hokkaido/Tohoku F --> F1["North Island Sound
(Sapporo)"] F --> F2["Sendai Sound Bash / Local Link"] style A fill:#ffccff,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px style B fill:#ffe6b3 style C fill:#ffd9b3 style D fill:#c2f0c2 style E fill:#b3e0ff style F fill:#e0ccff

This diagram shows the network of independent sound system cultures formed by region. The following characteristics are clear: ““Yokohama = internationally competitive oriented”, ““Osaka = direct connection to the streets”, and ““Okinawa = the connection point between the Caribbean and Asia’’.

Audio technology evolution diagram (speaker/mixer/equipment system)

graph LR A["1950s
Handmade speaker box
(Valve Amp Era)"] --> B["1960s
Horn Type Cabinet"] B --> C["1970s
4-Way Stack System"] C --> D["1980s
Digital Mixer + Preamp"] D --> E["1990s
Processor + Active Amp"] E --> F["2000s
PC-based Crossover / Soundcard Setup"] F --> G["2020s
DIY DSP + Class-D Power"] A --> AA["Tom the Great Sebastian
(First PA System)"] B --> AB["King Tubby
Homemade Amp Technology"] C --> AC["Channel One Sound System
4-Way Revolution"] D --> AD["UK Dub School
Jah Shaka / Aba Shanti"] F --> AE["Japanese DIY Builders
Mura Masa / Tokyo Dub Attack"] style A fill:#ffcc00,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px style G fill:#a3f0a3,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px

This diagram shows the “DIY evolution history of audio equipment.” From analog vacuum tubes to DSP control, the spirit of ““creating your own sound’’ is consistent.

Cultural expansion map (intersection with hip-hop, techno, and afrobeats)

graph TD A["Sound System Culture
(Jamaica 1940s~)"] --> B["Dub / Reggae
(1970s)"] B --> C["Dancehall
(1980s)"] B --> D["Hip-Hop
(NY 1970s~)"] C --> E["Reggaeton
(Puerto Rico 1990s〜)"] C --> F["Afrobeats
(Nigeria 2000s~)"] B --> G["Dub Techno / Ambient
(Berlin 1990s~)"] F --> H["K-POP Dancehall Hybrid
(2020s)"] C --> I["Japanese Reggae Scene
(1990s~)"] G --> J["Electronic Festivals / Sound Art
(Europe / Japan 2000s〜)"] D --> C E --> F I --> J G --> I style A fill:#ffd966,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px style C fill:#ffccff,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px style I fill:#f6baff,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px style G fill:#ccf2ff,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1.5px style F fill:#d9f2c2,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1.5px

This diagram depicts the evolution of sound system culture as it intersects with music genres around the world. Hip-hop (NY), techno (Berlin), Afrobeats (Lagos), and Japanese club culture. All of us share a “bass culture = bass community.”

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