12: Why Vybz Kartel is the most important Jamaican artist of the century

Without Jamaican sound system culture, much of the electronic music we love wouldn't even exist. So why is it so often underrepresented when we talk about dance music history?

To tackle this and more, we brought in author Marvin Sparks, one of the UK’s preeminent experts on reggae and dancehall.

We also had topical news to cover: Vybz Kartel, currently serving a life sentence in prison, had his murder conviction overturned last month. As is often the case, press coverage of the appeal has been meagre, so we asked Marvin to explain just why this ruling is so important, and how Vybz Kartel became the most important dancehall artist of the 21st century.

Marvin’s also on form when it comes to the big picture stuff: dancehall’s influence on all the music you love, the problems with its press coverage in and out of Jamaica, and his expertise in a genre that, as he puts it, music fans don’t care nearly enough about.

Thanks for listening to No Tags. If you like what we do, consider following us on Substack and social media (we’re @notagspodcast everywhere) or rating and reviewing No Tags on your podcast app.