The intergenerational transmission of knowledge is crucial to the survival of any culture. Within the realm of sonic street technologies, this transmission occurs in the household, at sound system sessions, in workshop settings—or in record shops. Practitioners have consistently highlighted the significance of passing knowledge from elders to younger generations, as seen during the UK reasoning session held at Goldsmiths in November 2022 (watch the film here). This process becomes especially critical when it can no longer be taken for granted, as is currently the case in Jamaica (see a blog reporting on the SST Jamaican reasoning session held in 2022 here).

This week’s blog spotlights the ways in which this transmission is happening—through the voices of those who are making it possible. For the third instalment of her *Musical Youth* series (see blog 1 and blog 2), guest author Becca Leathlean visits Lion Vibes record shop in London, where monthly Open Deck sessions attract reggae fans from 16 to 60+; and reaches out to young selectors committed to keeping reggae alive through its traditional format: 7in vinyl. 

by Becca Leathlean

Back in November 2022 when I played my second open decks at Lion Vibes Selector Thursday, I got a surprise. As the needle landed on Johnny Osbourne’s Ice Cream Love, a group of teenagers in the audience started waving their arms in the air and noisily demanding a pullup. When I followed with the Congos’ Fisherman they got even more excited. One started banging his arm on the counter, while another reached over and pulled the needle up for me! The tune rewound to a chorus of cheers and a shopful of youngsters skanking and singing along – one blissed out kid with his hands clasped above his head, revolving in a circle while doing a kind of ecstatic pogo dance.  

Later, some of the same teenagers were behind the decks themselves, playing their own records. What had attracted these young people to music created long before they were born – spun on vinyl, a technology even older than the tunes? 

Musical Youth Blog 3 centres on Lion Vibes record shop in London, featuring a selection of the youngsters involved. They’ve told me so much I didn’t expect – and they’ve given me hope because, in their different ways, it seems each one is helping to keep reggae music, its message and its legacy alive. What’s more, they’re doing this through reggae’s original medium: the vinyl record.  

“Selector Thursday started in 2019,” says Lion Vibes manager, Ben Bell. “It was the idea of Tudor Lion from Creation Rebel who was working here at the time. 

“We wanted to do more than just sell records to people. We had the space and a good speaker system, and it was great to see who turned up and what they would play. 

“It really took off in 2020, after the first Lockdown. We started seeing a lot of people, massively helped by social media.”  

With 59.5K Instagram followers, 21K on Facebook and 12.3K on TikTok, Lion Vibes is a social media giant, attracting customers from across the world. The open decks have proved to be a great leveller, with guests including established selectors and toasters, complete novices, pop stars, mother and daughter duos, people of all genders, ethnicities and nationalities; even tourists! Says Ben: “There were some young Belgian guys who came about a year ago, playing ska. That was a real surprise!” 

Ben says he doesn’t know exactly why the younger generation are attracted to reggae music and vinyl records, and I leave with a list of people to track down and interview. Here are some of them, in their own words. 

 1. “I don’t think there’s any other musical experience like it” – Vince Blais (London)

Vince Blais (19) was one of the people demanding a rewind when I played Fisherman in 2022. He’s a member of Connected Youth, the teenage crew who played later, and now works at Lion Vibes. His passion for reggae music and culture has grown in tandem with his passion for collecting 7in vinyl records. 

“I first got into reggae when I was 13. It started from my sister who had a boyfriend who’d wake up in the morning, light a spliff and put some tunes on. 

“My dad was into reggae, too. He’d been a punk, and he introduced me to Mikey Dread and Dr Alimantado. 

“Dad had one Greensleeves DJ compilation with Prince Jazzbo, U-Roy, those guys, so me and my mates would play that. Then I started buying the odd reggae album, and then my mate Richard, who I’m in Connected Youth with, started collecting reggae 7s. 

“The first 7in reggae records I bought were from Lion Vibes: Big Youth, House of Dreadlocks and Well Pleased and Satisfied, Pickney have a Pickney. 

“Connected Youth was formed in late 2022 of me and my two good friends Richard and Archie. We leant towards late 60s and early 70s reggae so Dubplate Pearl, who works at Lion Vibes, said we should check out Vinyl Meltdown at the Flower of Kent pub in Lewisham. We visited in the autumn of 2022. 

“I’d never experienced anything like it. When you hear a tune drop and then the bassline, it’s mental. I don’t think there’s any other musical experience like it. There’s nowhere else where people like a song so much they start screaming, hitting the walls, bashing the tables, demanding to hear it again, and I guess I really liked that. People were there to listen and appreciate, not just sit and talk over the music. It’s an interactive experience, you’re involved and as soon as I saw that, I was like, ‘this is it! This is sick!’ 

“Vinyl Meltdown became my church, my musical education. I like to observe, I like to listen. I try to soak in all the information I can. 

“The selector might speak a little just before they drop the tune, about the producer or the version, or the artist or the label. They might drop a little bit of history. Or I’ll be talking to someone, discussing labels, producers and artists. 

“I still go most weeks, and I hear tunes I don’t know every time. It pushes you to dig deeper, have more conversations, ask, ‘what was that track?’, ‘what was that different instrumental cut you played?’ 

“We played our first Selector Thursday at Lion Vibes in November 2022, after which things picked up super quickly. We were asked to play at Riff Raffs in Croydon and we did some radio shows. Then we got a residency at Map Studio Café. The residency was kindly given to us by the Ram Jam Crew. We did it for a year, until June 2024. Doc Murdoch who MCs at Vinyl Meltdown came to MC for us. He’s one of the elders who’s really encouraging the youth. We can’t thank him enough for joining our sessions. He would always be there bringing the vibes, even when it was half-empty. 

“Some people my age might see vinyl selecting as vintage and cool, or they might just enjoy the tunes! The elder generation can be appreciative, too. A lot of them like to see the kids trying to push the music forwards. The main thing in the revival scene is that you must remain humble. I know I’m sitting here being interviewed but there’s such a lot of music out there, I don’t know much at all. I appreciate it, I’m getting involved in it, but for other people this is their lives, from the day they were born.” 

Instagram: @vince.blais

 2. The Dancer – Skanking Star (London & Hyderabad)

Skanking Star is a familiar face on the London reggae scene, visiting almost every music event and playing with several vinyl sound systems. He’s always doing his distinctive skank and beaming with happiness. “#joyful is one of my tags,” he says. 

“I was introduced to reggae around 2012 by DJ Dakta Dub in Hyderabad. Through him, I started going to gigs – and I found I was able to dance. Dakta got gigs nearly every month and I became one of the guys who dance and help to build the vibe. 

“In 2016 I went to Goa Sunsplash with the first edition of Monkey Sound System. I joined the crew and made a lot of friends. Then, in 2022, I moved to London.  

“In London, I started collecting records and then I started selecting! Lion Vibes was the first place I played. I went record-shopping one Selector Thursday. One selector cancelled so they asked me, ‘would you like to play the records you’ve just bought?’  

“I’d bought [he sings] Get up in the morning, slaving for bread sir, a brand-new issue, and a Studio One Marcia Griffiths LP, first press. It was fun. I don’t stand still when I’m selecting, I try to draw attention to my skanking. 

“I didn’t know much about the Foundation when I arrived in London. I started to learn by interacting with people. I also bought a book, The Rough Guide to Reggae. I read 2-3 pages a night to improve my English and increase my knowledge.  

“I play joyful reggae. Most of my collection comes from the late 60s & 70s. I love off-beaty rootsy music and good dub and horns. My taste has developed since moving to London. I’ve discovered contemporary musicians like Megumi Mesaku, too. 

“There’s something in Hinduism called bhajan. It means chanting and playing instruments to the gods. Hari Krishna followers are doing bhajan. Satta Massagana by the Abyssinians is similar. It’s like a bhajan for Rastafari. I’m not very religious but I love that Reggae Rasta bhajan. 

“It’s like original love. People who love reggae know that feeling. There’s a connection. When 10 people are skanking on the same riddim, at the same frequency, with smiles on their faces, there’s unity. Everybody has their own story, but their movements sync a bit, they smile and jump together. You can’t define it, but you can feel it. 

“How am I keeping reggae alive and protecting the legacy? Well, I go to India once a year to perform and I collect records to send to Monkey Sound System. I also give musical presentations on Skatalites saxophonist Tommy McCook. More people should know about the history of reggae. It’s a beautiful history.” 

Instagram: @SkankingStar 

NOTE: Skanking Star has now started Streetlight sound system with Earl Gateshead. We will find out more about this initiative in Blog No. 4 which will look at new vinyl sound systems coming to the fore, and how they are interpreting and promoting the reggae genre. 

 3. The Old Soul – Sugar (London)

Sugar (21) played on his grandfather’s sound system as a child and is a Lion Vibes legend having stunned the crowd with a set of rare 7ins from the family collection at his first Open Decks. A respected authority on the music, he can often be found at Reggae Cookout in Finsbury Park every first Sunday of the month and regularly selects there, for a mainly older crowd of vinyl-lovers. 

“Truly, I’ve got to big up my grandma and grandad. I lived with them since I was a few months old, so I’m an old soul. They taught me a certain discipline and way of hearing the music. Their music was my discipline. It had a message and a beat. It helped keep me level-headed.   

“My grandad established his sound system around 1965 in northeast London. He used to play at a club called the West Bank, and also at the house of Miss P who kept blues parties and dominos & darts nights. He also did domino & dances with another sound system called Chicken the Thunderstorm. 

“Growing up in a Caribbean family there were a lot of functions – birthdays, weddings and funerals. I’d play at some of those on Grandad’s sound system, or at home, when Grandma would cook and every cousin came over. Grandad would talk on the mic and call me ‘Little Sugar’. I knew he was proud to know, from his blood, I was the next one. 

“I first played at Lion Vibes about two years ago. I brought a bunch of tunes in a JD sports bag. No one would have expected what was in the bag. Ben [Bell] was shocked that this little chubby boy was coming with a plastic bag and pulling out rare originals. It was a shock to people’s systems. But I just let them know, ‘this is what my generation should be doing.’ 

“The only tune I remember playing is The Hunter by Price Buster and the All Stars. It comes on UK Dice and also on a Jamaican label called Voice of the People, which was Prince Buster’s sound system. I remember playing that version and it tear down the place! 

“You meet likeminded people at Lion Vibes and that helped me, because at one time I did feel like I was the only one playing the music. It gave me something to look forward to, getting out there and sharing my records. It gave me the opportunity to express myself in music. I have to say Big Up, Ben, because he really helped me confidence-wise. When I linked up with Lion Vibes it helped me realise that the world is bigger. 

“Meeting people like Connected Youth has been part of my inspiration. It’s nice to see younger people playing vinyl, no matter if it’s jungle, punk, soul or reggae – as long as it’s vinyl it makes me happy. It’s what I was brought up with and I’m mad over records. So when I have someone my age to talk to about them, that makes me extra happy. 

“Reggae from the 60s, 70s and 80s is timeless. I wish more people of my generation would understand that it’s not old music, it’s just better! It was more put together and enjoyable. 

“I also wish there were more young people who understood the depth of this music, because sometimes when you play for them, the tunes go over their heads. It’s people like me, Vince and Dillon at Eldica Records who know if a tune’s rare, or who will go over to look at the selector’s records and big them up, like my grandad’s generation would do. 

“Not everyone my age feels the music as much as me, either. Playing for my grandad’s generation is different because they lived it. It makes me proud that it makes them proud that someone so young from their friends or family has taken up the torch. I do miss the older heads coming round and being relaxed by me playing my grandad’s music. 

“My advice for young selectors is this: when you play a record, always give the artist credit. And when you buy a record, pick out something that really means something to you. Even if it’s just the lyrics or the drums, there’s going to be something that carries a strong message. I want the younger people to play music and play it with a message.” 

Instagram: @1cd876 

4. Converting Steppas heads to Old School reggae – Lady R (Middlesbrough)

Lady R (25) started selecting at 16, after being introduced to reggae by her father, a record dealer and former DJ. She now has her own collection of vinyl and plays once or twice a week for sound systems across the northeast of England. 

“The first reggae tunes I heard were Born for a Purpose by Dr Alimantado and African Dub Chapter 3 by Joe Gibbs. Dad and I used to listen to them when I was about 13. 

“There was a good underground rave scene in Middlesbrough which is how I came into sound system. Then, I was putting tunes on a Bluetooth speaker at a friend’s birthday party and there were two brothers there from Simeon Sounds which was operating at that time. They were interested to hear a young lass playing old reggae and they invited me to play a set with them.  

“A lot of early reggae has this warm old sound that really makes you smile. I love the spiritual Rasta stuff as well, but early ska and rocksteady were more about having a bit of fun, and I love that. You put some ska on and the whole place will be bouncing.  

“I love old dub as well. The stripped-back nature of it. It’s so hypnotic, it clears my head and there’s nothing going on except the music.  

“I have quite a chaotic brain and I find the music and the sound systems super-therapeutic. Sound systems are all-encompassing. You can hear them, see what’s going on, you can even smell them – that speaker smell – and obviously the physical feeling is the most important thing. When you feel the bass, nothing else matters. 

“Playing my vinyl at Lion Vibes was a dream I’d had for a long time. Then I met Ben and Kaya at a gig at the Old Abbey Tap House in Manchester for International Women’s Day. Kaya was playing, too. They invited me to Selector Thursday in May 2024. I got such a welcome! It was proper vibes from start to finish. 

“It was refreshing to see so many people like me. Lion Vibes is doing really good work, helping people to get heard. 

“When I first started out, most selectors were men over 40. Now I’m seeing women and men of all ages. I do think the younger generation are coming through and it’s exciting because I feel the scene is on the up. People don’t want to just be a punter; they want to get some records and get involved. 

“I’m keeping the culture alive as hard as I can by playing Old School reggae to Steppas heads. I think I’ve converted some of them. When I started, it was all rave or Steppas. I think people appreciated me slowing things down. 

“I also like to play tunes people might have heard remixed or sampled in jungle and hip hop. I come in and play the original and people are like, ‘Oh my god! This tune!’ I think that’s a really good way to convert young people to reggae.  

“Every record I play, I love. I know its ins and outs, and ups and downs, I know my tunes exactly. If there was a choice between never going to a sound system again or death, I’d choose death. Sound system is what keeps me going and I’m in it for the long haul.” 

Instagram: @ladyr_reggae 

 5. Sophisticated Choices – Billy Davies (Rugby)

Billy Davies (17) played his first Selector Thursday in March 2024 after being introduced to reggae just six months before. I saw him there in May, hypnotising the crowd with another beautiful selection, sophisticated beyond his years, especially when accompanying an elegant red-hatted elder who was toasting on the mic. Billy now has a show on Soul Roots Radio, every four Wednesdays from 8pm-10pm, and hopes to open a record shop one day. 

“I started listening to reggae in September 2023. I started with dub. Before that, I was into electronic music and dubstep. I got into dub because I wanted to find out where those genres came from. Now I love early reggae and rocksteady as well. It feeds your soul. 

“When I like a piece of music, I love finding out where it comes from. I got into soul music from hearing rap samples. Sometimes you prefer the music that the samples come from.  

“At my last Open Decks I played Burning Spear, Freddie McGregor and the Drum Song by Ken Booth. I love instrumental music. Also, many early rocksteady records are covers of soul tracks, which I find really interesting. My favourite modern cover is the Frightnrs’ I’d Rather Go Blind from 2015, their version of the Etta James song. 

“I did a project for college about ‘community’ and interviewed Ben Bell about how Lion Vibes brings people together. I took photos there, and then I spent the day with Sugar. He’s got such a good knowledge of music through his grandparents and he’s so passionate. I look up to him. We ended up chilling and chatting, grabbing some food and jamming at Lion Vibes. I bought Don’t Stay Away by Phyllis Dillon. She recorded it when she was just 19, which is amazing. She’s probably my favourite reggae artist. 

“The world’s digital now, but you’ve got to be thankful because it wouldn’t have been possible to connect so easily with Lion Vibes and meet all these people without digital media. At the same time, it takes away from the authenticity of music. You can have a Spotify playlist, but I collect records because they’re much more personal. 

“I have ADHD. I like to call it my superpower, but it holds me back at times. Music helps me keep calm. There’s a tune for every emotion. 

“I’ve learned so much more about Black history through listening to records. I’ve taken time to learn about the history of the music, too, and listen to people who’ve been part of the scene for way longer than me. I think that’s important. There’s an interesting new fact with every record. It’s so much more than just listening to the tune.” 

Instagram: @billydavies0 

6. The Photographer – Soren Froome-Lewis (London)

Soren Froome-Lewis (16) was introduced to ska by a teacher at his school. He’s now documenting London’s reggae vinyl scene in photographs, some of which feature here. From being a Lion Vibes customer, he did his summer work experience there and remains on call. 

“My parents are keyworkers, so I had to go into school during lockdown. I was 13 at the time, and the interim teacher was an original skinhead. He had a Trojan horse tattooed on his arm and he would bring in his guitar to practice songwriting. From there I started going to Lion Vibes, where I met Dubplate Pearl. She introduced me to lots more reggae music. I bought my first record there and became a regular customer. 

“Before then, the only reggae influence I had were a few tracks on a Thievery Corporation CD. Apart from that, I was totally unaware of the culture and power behind the genre. 

“It was just ska to start, but I got more into the music when I was introduced to roots and dub. I started with Jah Shaka and his albums with Ariwa; and Mad Professor. My favourites now are artists like Pablo Moses, Mafia and Fluxy, early Aswad, King Tubby, Keith Hudson and Black Uhuru. The bass feels empowering. If I’m feeling down, it makes me feel better, and although it’s often played loud, reggae is thoughtful music with key messages. 

“Reggae is a huge part of London culture, and my photography is what moves me through it. I began with a project about ‘spaces’ for my Art GCSE. I decided to photograph spaces that are filled with sound and picked Deptford Dub Club. I interviewed people and took photographs over three months which came together to make a small zine.  

“Since then, I’ve taken photographs at Selector Thursday several times, and I’ve continued to document the Dub Club. At Notting Hill Carnival, I photographed Gladdy Wax and his crew all day from 8am to 5pm. I asked permission first. Tons of people take photos of his sound without asking so I wanted to be there with his consent and get a better insight into Carnival. 

“I did my summer work experience at Lion Vibes’ warehouse in Brixton which was fun. Vince was there most days, and it expanded my knowledge of reggae. Although I was only doing the stock check, it didn’t feel boring because the atmosphere was so nice. I filmed some videos for their Instagram, too. 

“There’s a vinyl revival going on, and I think it’s important to help keep the culture alive as a photographer. Reggae attracts such a vast community of people, and the atmosphere created is so lively and joyful.  

“Fashion plays a big part, and the DJs are full of character. Doc Murdoch has a wide variety of hats, plus the shoes and jewellery to go with them. In the 70s and 80s it was traditional in Jamaica to dress as smartly as possible at a dance because you were respected for what you wore, and obviously to have a nice pair of Clarks was just the thing. I know a few people who are keeping that up. I bought a pair of Clarks Wallabees myself, inspired by Vince. As a photographer, I suppose I’ve looked more closely at what people are wearing because it makes for a better picture if they’re wearing something cool. 

“I think what’s been lost in the digital age is a sense of atmosphere. Youth clubs have practically disappeared, and people only listen to music on their headphones. Whereas vinyl events like Dub Club and Selector Thursday are an enjoyable night out. You socialise, meet new people and have a nice time. Getting more young people to physically go out to any kind of music would be good. It’s made my own life 100 percent more interesting.” 

Instagram: @photobysoren 

About the author:

Becca Leathlean is a writer and teacher with a long-term love of roots reggae. She returned to London in July 2022 to take up opportunities as a vinyl DJ and to present a world-reggae radio show.