Musicians from Jamaica

"Now he took the music of like Mandrill, like "Fencewalk", certain disco records that had funky percussion breaks like The Incredible Bongo Band when they came out with "Apache" and he just kept that beat going. It might be that certain part of the record that everybody waits for ]]— they just let their inner self go and get wild. The next thing you know the singer comes back in and you'd be mad."

"Herc really slipped up. With the monstrous power he had he couldn't mix too well. He was playing little breaks but it would sound so sloppy. I noticed that the mixer he was using was a GLI 3800. It was a very popular mixer at that time. It's a scarcity today but it's still one of the best mixers GLI ever made. At the time he wasn't using no queueing. In other words, the hole was there for a headphone to go in but I remember he never had headphones over his ears. All of a sudden, Herc had headphones but I guess he was so used to dropping the needle down by eyesight and trying to mix it that from the audio part of it he couldn't get into it too well."

"Rapping and my style, we're brothers. If you go round now and ask rappers about Shabba, they know me as well as I know them. It's similar. The only difference is that they're using a funky beat. I'm on a reggae beat. I don't use the amount of lyrics that they use but it's definitely rapping."

"The more you accept herb, the more you accept Rastafari."

"All dese governments and dis this and that, these people that say they're here to help, why them say you cannot smoke the herb? Herb... herb is a plant, you know? And when me check it, me can't find no reason. All them say is, 'it make you rebel'. Against what?"

"Alcohol make you drunk, man. It don't make you meditate, it just make you drunk. Herb is more a consciousness."

"We don't have education, we have inspiration; if I was educated I would be a damn fool."

"Today, people struggle to find what's real. Everything has become so synthetic that a lot of people, all they want is to grasp onto hope."

"Possession make you rich? I don't have that type of richness. My richness is Life, forever."

"One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain."

"Some people say great God come from the sky take away everything and make everybody feel high, but if you know what life is worth, you will look for yours on earth."

"Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights! Get up, stand up: don't give up the fight!"

"Every day the bucket a-go a well, one day the bottom a-go drop out."

"If you are the big tree We are the small axe Sharpened to cut you down Ready to cut you down"

"A hungry mob is an angry mob."

"Never make a politician grant you a favour They will always want to control you forever."

"If you get down and you quarrel everyday You're saying prayers to the devils, I say."

"Truth is the light So you never give up the fight."

"When the rain falls, it won't fall on one man's housetop."

"Your life is worth much more than gold."

"Don't worry about a thing, 'Cos every little thing is gonna be alright."

"One love, one heart, Let's get together and feel alright."

"Excuse me while I light my spliff (spliff) Good God I gotta' take a lift (lift) From reality I just can't drift (drift) That's why I am staying with this riff (riff) Take it easy, easy skanking Got to take it easy, easy skanking."

"They say the sun shines for all But in some people world it never shine at all."

"Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny."

"Life is one big road with lots of signs, So when you riding through the ruts, Don't you complicate your mind Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy Don't bury your thoughts; put your vision to reality"

"In the abundance of water a fool is thirsty."

"When one door is closed, many more is open."

"It is better to live on the house top than to live in a house full of confusion."

"Judge not, before you judge yourself. Judge not, if you're not ready for judgment."

"The Road of life is rocky and you may stumble too, so while you talk about me, someone else is judging you."

"Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, None but ourselves can free our minds. Have no fear for atomic energy, 'Cause none of them can stop the time."

"Won't you help to sing, These songs of freedom? 'Cause all I ever had, Redemption songs."

"We JAH people can make it work."

"Don't gain the world and lose your soul Wisdom is better than silver and gold."

"Two thousand years of history Black History could not be wiped away so easily."

"And what has been hidden from the wise and the prudent been revealed in the mouth of the toddlers."

"Who are you to judge the life I live? I know that I'm not perfect and that I don't claim to be, so before you point your fingers make sure your hands are clean."

"They say: only the fittest of the fittest shall survive, stay alive!"

"Say you just can't live that negative way You know what I mean Make way for the positive day Cause it's a new day."

"Good friends we have had, oh good friends we've lost along the way In this bright future you can't forget your past So dry your tears I say No woman, no cry No woman, no cry Little darlin' don't shed no tears No woman, no cry"

"Ev'rything's gonna be alright So, no woman, no cry."

"The people who are trying to make this world worse are not taking a day off. How can I? Light up the darkness."

"I carried Bob Marley’s Redemption Song to every meeting I had with a politician, prime minister, or president. It was for me a prophetic utterance or as Bob would say "the small ax that could fell the big tree". The song reminded me that freedom always comes with a cost, but for those who would prepare to pay it, maybe "emancipation from mental slavery" would be our reward."

"I am Boutros Boutros-Ghali; put down your gun and listen to Bob Marley."

"I saw Marley a few months before he died in a concert at the Crystal Palace Bowl in South London. He was magisterial on that stage. His dreadlocks were shaken at the London Stock Exchange and at the Houses of Parliament. He stomped on the spot as if to put out the fire of despotism. He crooned some unforgettable lovers' lyrics as if to confirm that even the warrior has to love. His songs are anthems for me. They celebrate Africa, berate politicians, lament slavery, invigorate the spirit. Looking over the century as it closes, I see Marley up there with the best six popular songwriters - Gershwin, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Billie Holiday, the Beatles... I know we all have our own lists."

"You just mentioned Bob Marley — I can remember when I was in college, listening — and not agreeing with his whole philosophy necessarily, but raising my awareness of how people outside of our country were thinking about the struggles for jobs and dignity, and freedom."

"He had this idea. It was kind of a virologist idea. He believed that you could cure racism and hate... literally cure it, by injecting music and love into people's lives. When he was scheduled to perform at a peace rally, a gunman came to his house and shot him down. Two days later he walked out on that stage and sang. When they asked him why — He said, "The people who are trying to make this world worse are not taking a day off. How can I? Light up the darkness.""

"The U.S. empire rests on a grisly foundation: the massacre of millions of indigenous people, the stealing of their lands, and following this, the kidnapping and enslavement of millions of black people from Africa to work that land. Thousands died on the seas while they were being shipped like caged cattle between continents. "Stolen from Africa, brought to America"-Bob Marley's "Buffalo Soldier" contains a whole universe of unspeakable sadness. It tells of the loss of dignity, the loss of wilderness, the loss of freedom, the shattered pride of a people. Genocide and slavery provide the social and economic underpinning of the nation whose fundamental values reject hate, murderers, and evil."

"Don't want no riot but me slim too slim fi go 'pon more diet can't keep quet O Lord I've got to speak out don't want no violence but man too hungry fi make nice much less fe keep silent!"

"Give Thanks Inna the storm Rastafari are we umbrella."

"The Lord is I light an' salvation so I won't heed to temptation .....I know they hate us but Jah love us so The more they fight we get stronger"

"See driving is like stabbing someone, it's very personal. While flying is like shooting someone, it's more distant."

"The more red meat and blood we eat, the more bloodthirsty we get, the more violent we get. The more vegetarian food that we eat, the more peace is taken into us."

"No no no You don't love me And I know now No no no You don't love me Yes, I know now 'Cause you left me, baby And I got no place to go now.No no no I'll do anything you say boy No no no I'll do anything you say boy 'Cause if you ask me, baby I'll get on my knees and pray boy."

"Two months later she said come and get your son"

"In song Here I Come, Here I Come (album) (1984-1985)."

"It's always good to revisit the past — to know where we are today."

"I grew up in a condition where I could have chosen to go either way — negatively or postively — and so I kind of chose to go positive — and that stayed with me through my life — always have to have a positive outlook on whatever situation there is — and so it comes out in my music."

"Our concept of when someone cross over — we don't say they "pass away", we say "cross over", they just go to the other side of existence, there's no such thing as death — and then they go out there and they vibrate for however many days before they go to a higher height. But Toots, the way Toots lived his life, I'm sure his soul got to move on. The soul can reincarnate from 24 to 24,000 times, it depends how you lived your life. But with Toots, I can't see Toots coming back to this planet. He's evolved. He's completed his task that he has to do on this planet. His spirit will always be resonating with us … His soul will always be resonating with us and the people who loved his music."

"Many rivers to cross But I can't seem to find my way over Wandering I am lost As I travel along the white cliffs of Dover"

"Many rivers to cross And it's only my will that keeps me alive I've been licked, washed up for years And I merely survive because of my pride"

"And this loneliness won't leave me alone It's such a drag to be on your own My woman left me and she didn't say why Well I guess, I have to cry"

"Wonderful world, beautiful people You and your girl, things could be pretty But underneath this there is a secret That nobody can reveal"

"Take a look at the world And the state that it's in today I am sure you'll agree We all could make it a better way With our love put together Everybody learn to love each other Instead of fussing and fighting Cheating but biting Scandalizing and hating"

"Man and woman, girl and boy Let us try to give a helping hand This I know and I'm sure That with love we all could understand This is our world, can't you see Everybody wants to live and be free"

"You can get it if you really want But you must try, try and try Try and try, you'll succeed at lastLook here Persecution you must bear Win or lose you've got to get your share Got your mind set on a dream You can get it, though harder they seem nowYou can get it if you really want"