In this episode, postdoctoral researcher Rachel Bolle explores the role of the bass in dub poetry. She discusses the works of Linton Kwesi Johnson and the politics of bass culture. The episode incorporates interviews with Linton Kwesi Johnson and Oku Onura by Bartosz Wójcik, Caspar Melville, and Paul Gilroy.
This episode was written and produced by Rachel Bolle and edited by Marie Krebs of Poetry Off the Page.
Linton Kwesi Johnson’s poem Bass Culture can be listened to on YouTube:
Linton Kwesi Johnson. “Bass Culture.” YouTube, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spBPMoS8XEQ.
References:
Bolle-Debessay, Rachel. “Low Frequencies and Poetic Innovations: Revisiting Dub Poetry’s Aesthetic.” Caribbean Quarterly, vol. 68, no. 2, Apr. 2022, pp. 251–67.
Bolle-Debessay, Rachel. Dub Poetry: A Study Beyond Predefined Interpretations. 2020. King’s College London, doctoral dissertation. Unpublished.
Bradley, Lloyd. Bass Culture: When Reggae Was King. Penguin Books, 2001.
Brotheration Studio Band. “Inflation Dub.” uploaded by Pixabay, 2023, https://pixabay.com/music/search/dub/.
Bucknor, Michael A. “Dub Poetry as Postmodern Art Form: Self-conscious of Critical Reception.” The Routledge Companion to Anglophone Caribbean Literature, edited by Michael A. Bucknor and Alison Donnell, Routledge, 2011, pp. 255–263.
Gilroy, Paul, and Linton Kwesi Johnson. “In Conversation with Linton Kwesi Johnson.” UCL Racism and Racialisation, University College London, 2021, https://www.ucl.ac.uk/racism-racialisation/transcript-conversation-linton-kwesi-johnson.
Markham, Edward Archibald. “Random Thoughts.” Hinterland: Caribbean Poetry from the West Indies and Britain, edited by Edward Archibald Markham, Bloodaxe, 1989, pp. 12–42.
Melville, Caspar, interviewer. “Bass Culture Research Project: Linton Kwesi Johnson Interviewed by Caspar Melville.” Bass Culture Research Project, AHRC, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaie57hbY7Y.
Miller, Kei. “A Smaller Sound, a Lesser Fury: A Eulogy for Dub Poetry.” Small Axe Online, no. 14, Nov. 2013, http://small-axe.happyviper.com/sxsalon/discussions/smaller-sound-lesser-fury. Accessed 10 Nov. 2024.
Riley, Mykaell. “Bass Culture: An Alternative Soundtrack to Britishness”. Black Popular Music in Britain Since 1945”, edited by Jon Stratton and Nabeel Zuberi, Ashgate, 2024.
Onuora, Oku. “Oku Onuora (meeting spotkanie Ostroda Reggae Festival 2019).” YouTube, uploaded by Ostroda Reggae Festival, 19 Aug. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWAARW1F5zw.
The theme music is “Playing in Colour” by user29811401 on Pixabay.
You can access the episode transcript here.
To learn more about the project, our partners, and to find the episode transcripts, visit www.poetryoffthepage.net.
You can also follow us on:
Bluesky: @poetryoffthepage.bsky.social
Instagram: @Poetry_offthe_Page
or like us on Facebook (‘Poetry Off the Page’)!