Bedroom Reggae
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The most sensual, intimate register of romantic reggae: slow, seductive songs of desire built for the bedroom and the slow-wine, with hushed, come-hither vocals, warm keyboards and a deep, unhurried one-drop or lovers-dancehall groove. Arrangements are soft, spacious and adult, the lyrics frankly romantic and physical, the tempo made for close dancing and late nights. The mood is candlelit and suggestive. Reggae's most private, after-dark love music.
History
Bedroom reggae is the intimate extreme of the lovers tradition, overlapping quiet-storm reggae and lovers dancehall but defined by its sensual, private mood; Gregory Isaacs's smoky "Night Nurse," Beres Hammond's velvet balladry and Maxi Priest's crossover slow jams set the classic standard. In the dancehall era Wayne Wonder, Sanchez and Cocoa Tea updated it over digital riddims for the slow-wine, and the style thrives wherever reggae serves seduction rather than the crowd. It remains a beloved, late-night mode across the Caribbean and its diaspora, the softest and most personal corner of the romantic-reggae family.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Steve Barrow & Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae (2004)
- Dave Thompson, Reggae & Caribbean Music (2002)
- David Katz, Solid Foundation: An Oral History of Reggae (2003)