Jah Shaka performs at Antwerp, Belgium’s Magiq Spiegeltent in 2010. Photo by anvis via flickr.
Dub and sound system legend Jah Shaka has died. His passing occurred today (April 12), his son confirmed in an Instagram post this afternoon. The cause of his death has not been disclosed, nor has his exact age at the time of his passing.
Born in Jamaica’s Clarendon Province, Shaka moved to London as a child in the early 1950s and remained there for the majority of his life and career. As a young adult, he worked with local speaker builder Freddie Cloudburst, helping him maintain his system. Eventually, he was allowed to play records with the sound system — a term for not only the massive PA systems that reggae and dub DJs performed on at the time, but also the collectives of DJs and audio engineers that formed around them — and began to build his own.
Throughout the ’70s, the sound system he founded developed an ardent following that included younger dub musicians such as Jah Warrior and Iration Steppas, as well as many punk and post-punk rockers who incorporated dub sounds into their own music, from the Slits to Sex Pistols/Public Image Ltd’s John Lydon. He starred as himself and performed with his system in the 1980 film Babylon. His legacy stretches far beyond these genres, too, evident in the jungle and drum & bass scenes that formed in early-’90s London and are currently experiencing a massive revival.
Shaka was celebrated not only for his music but also for his full-throated activism and philanthropy. Also known as Zulu Warrior, he inspired the next generation to get involved, leading by example with his human rights work in Ghana and elsewhere. He is survived by his son, who has followed in Shaka’s footsteps, helming his own sound system under the moniker Young Warrior.