Sound System Performances and the Localization of Dancehall in Finland

Abstract

This study examines how the particular performance practices associated with reggae music have contributed to the localization of dancehall culture in Finland. At the core of this culture lies the concept of the sound system, which, in addition to a DJ, includes a master of ceremonies, or MC, who during a performance, in various ways, interacts with the audience. This article is especially concerned with how Finnish sound systems localize through their performances a particular understanding of reggae as a genre in Finland, and promote reggae as what I define as the dancehall continuum. Theoretically, this study draws on the study of folklore as performance and on sociological genre theory. The empirical material consists of interviews with sound system operators and discussions on an Internet message board. Additionally, a close reading of the written history of reggae is conducted. The study shows that Finnish sound systems do not only act as intermediaries of Jamaican music, but engage the local audience in the creation of a particular adaptation of dancehall culture in Finland.

Listening to Intergalactic Sounds – Articulation of Rastafarian Livity in Finnish Roots Reggae Sound System Performances

“…As Straw continues, scenes are often divided between the preservation of musical tradition and contemporary innovation. This dynamic is very present at the moment in Finnish reggae, as Kim Ramstedt (2014) has recently observed. A number of bands and artists, such as Jukka Poika or Reino Nordin, have articulated the sound of reggae with the lyrical and musical conventions of Finnish pop music, thus creating a new musical genre named suomireggae -'Finnish reggae music'.…”

“…For Jahvice and Nestori, this emphasis meant that they follow the tradition of Jamaican-derived sound system culture, rather than the contemporary currents of Jamaican music. In contrast, most Finnish sound systems and selectors track the new releases of Caribbean music very closely (on Finnish sound systems, see Ramstedt 2014). In our interview, Jahvice suggested that the traditional form of sound system performance is almost non-existent in Jamaica today, and is more alive in the sound system scenes of Britain and continental Europe.…”

“…At this event, the vocalists were not framed as a conventional live band performance as in Reggae Stomp. Rather, Voltti club consistently followed the mode of classical sound system performance described for example by Norman Stolzoff (2000) and Julian Henriques (2003), where the DJs actively construct the recorded music into a live delivery during the course of the whole event by spontaneous shouts and lyrical performances (see also Ramstedt 2014). Despite this, at the Voltti event the focus was not on the entertainer but rather on the soundscape, which the human vocalists constructed together with the recorded music.…”

“…The first fully-fledged local reggae bands and clubs emerged in the 1980s and 1990s. Kim Ramstedt (2014) has pointed out that the sound system performances and live ensembles of the emerging club culture fueled each other and together provided the conditions for a localized reggae culture in Finland. By the turn of the millennium, reggae ensembles and artists, mostly from a white middle-class background, and using Finnish language and localized themes, started to gain mainstream popularity.…”

“…Currently, sound system groups or individual selectors are often responsible for organizing reggae events, producing records and generally introducing reggae music to local audiences in performances; in addition, they form a social network that offers platforms for local and foreign vocal artist and instrumental ensembles to tour and perform. (Stolzoff 2000, 113-50;Ramstedt 2014. ) Despite their identification as somewhat marginal roots reggae, Intergalaktik Sound has been one of the most prominent Finnish sound systems during the past few years, with several recent music releases and regular club nights.…”