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Vinyl – 7″

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Reggae's History on 7" Vinyl

Reggae music’s history was written on 7-inch singles, a.k.a. Jamaican 45s! For the past 40 years, Jamaica has been pumping out 7” vinyl at warp speed, enabling a worldwide audience to enjoy wonderful roots, reggae, dancehall and dub. There is nothing more glorious than vinyl - something physical to hold, touch and admire - to connect the listener to the real roots of the genre.

As with many good things, hard-copy music formats have suffered from the widespread popularity of CDs and mp3s. Some Jamaican DJs now prefer the ease and portability of CDs, and their audiences prefer quick access to new music via downloads or cheap copies of CDs they can find on the street. Some of the riddims are available only as mp3/cd promos, never making it to the vinyl presses. The demise of the format means that we will miss a lot of great reggae songs that never get released as proper singles.

But many DJs, clubs and sound system operators still prefer nostalgic vinyl to the CD any day. The big sounds of reggae and dancehall just are not the same coming from CDs. With vinyl, DJs can do scratch effects and have more flexibility to create, improvise and remix songs. And there's nothing quite like that gritty sound that speakers belch out when you spin a vinyl record on a turntable!

Until the industry sorts itself out in this digitalized world, there are still plenty of new 7-inch singles coming out of Jamaica and the U.K., in particular. Worldwide collectors will find a great variety of older 7-inch vinyl to satisfy their cravings. Help support the format so it doesn't disappear!

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