Rate it!
Avg: 4.0 (58 ratings)
- Date Released: January 1, 1980
- Genre: International
- Label: Taxi / IODA
The earliest appearance of the Compass Point sound.
-
We Say...
Black Uhuru emerged at the head of a second wave of Jamaican vocal trios, in the wake of dread threesomes like Burning Spear and Culture. Like those earlier groups, Black Uhuru was more or less a platform for singer-songwriter Michael Rose. With drummer Sly Dunbar and the bass of Robbie Shakespeare fully merged within the Uhuru sound, the band became a proper performing unit — a band, distinct from the singers-plus-session-players model predominant in reggae during the ‘70s. Sly’s enthusiasm for synthetic drum sounds surfaced with a vengeance on Sinsemilla (its title track a paean to the superiority of seedless herb). The militant rhythms carved out by Black Uhuru marked the earliest appearance of the Compass Point sound, named for the Bahamian studio run by Island Records boss Chris Blackwell and often home to Sly & Robbie, who in later years played with everyone from Grace Jones to Carly Simon.
-
They Say...
Released on the Island Records subsidiary Mango in July 1980, Sinsemilla, named after a type of marijuana, was Black Uhuru's first album to be issued internationally, their third overall. Although the group was nominally a trio at this point -- consisting of Derrick "Duckie" Simpson, Michael Rose, and Sandra "Puma" Jones -- in effect, Sinsemilla was a solo album by Rose, who wrote all the songs and sang lead vocals. In addition to his writing and singing duties, Rose can be credited for bringing in the production team and rhythm section of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, whose Taxi Gang provides the distinctive musical tracks. Rose's lyrical vision is revolutionary and radical, extolling the primacy of Africa, opposing apartheid, and praising the virtues of marijuana. But his sweet tenor and Simpson's harmonies soothe the message, and the music has a spare, rhythmic appeal that is distinctive and forward-looking, suggesting a hard, stripped-down direction for reggae. Sinsemilla is the sound of performers just finding their voices, and it excited hopes for the development of Jamaican music as Bob Marley's leadership was about to falter due to illness.
“ The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.”
Rolling Stone
eMusic Tip
Paid downloads are counted towards an album discount but free downloads are not.
COMPLETE FOR FREE!
You can download the rest of the tracks from this album for free! Just click the Complete Album button.
We’re sorry this album can only be downloaded using paid subscription download credits.
We recommend you Save it for Later by clicking the Save for Later button shown just above this message. For a list of related albums you can download right now, check out these recommendations.
We'll give you 10 additional free credits to download this album and start your paid subscription.
Get 10 bonus credits on us if you download this album. Sweet!
| 01. |  |
Happiness |
4:21 |
|
| 02. | |
World Is Africa |
5:17 |
|
| 03. | |
Push Push |
4:12 |
|
| 04. | |
There Is Fire |
5:04 |
|
| 05. | |
No Loafing (Sit and Wonder) |
3:59 |
|
| 06. | |
Sinsemilla |
5:11 |
|
| 07. | |
Endurance |
4:01 |
|
| 08. | |
Vampire |
4:36 |
|
| 09. | |
Sinsemilla (Disco Mix) |
6:33 |
|
| 10. | |
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner |
5:59 |
|
10 Total Tracks, 49:13 Total Length
Loading...
Playlists If you like Black Uhuru, check out these member playlists
Explore music recommended by Black Uhuru fans
Credits
- Black Uhuru - Main Performer // Black Uhuru - Main Performer // Black Uhuru - Main Performer // Ansel Collins - Organ // Ansel Collins - Piano // Jimmy Becker - Harmonica // Dougie Bryan - Guitar // Radcliffe Bryan - Guitar // Bunny Tom Tom - Remixing // Sly Dunbar - Percussion // Sly Dunbar - Drums // Sly Dunbar - Producer // Sly Dunbar - Executive Producer // Sly Dunbar - Syndrum // Ernest Hoo Kim - Engineer // Ranchie McLean - Guitar // Errol "Ranchie" McLean - Guitar // Robbie Shakespeare - Bass // Robbie Shakespeare - Producer // Robbie Shakespeare - Executive Producer // Uziah "Sticky" Thompson - Percussion // Lister Hewan Lowe - Executive Producer // Johnny Black - Photography // Rad Bryan - Guitar // Tony Wright - Cover Design // Tony Wright - Cover Art // "Colonel" Maxie - Engineer
Choose from over 7 million
music downloadseMusic features legendary and emerging artists in every genre: classic rock to classical,indie to international, soundtracks to spiritual, jazz to country and many more.
MP3 downloads work on any digital media player
With eMusic, you OWN your music without any restrictions. Burn music to a CD, play it on your computer, mobile phone or any digital media player - including iPod®, Zune® and Walkman®.
Songs available for 50¢ or less
eMusic subscriptions start at just $11.99 a month for 24 downloads - that's just 50¢ per song! And it gets better from there - our plans go as low as 42¢ per song!
Music Discovery
eMusic is about discovery. We make finding new music fun again with music recommendations from our award-winning team of music experts, member playlists and new music features.
Cancel anytime
With all the great music and site features we're pretty sure you will love eMusic. If not, no problem. You can cancel at any time and keep the music you have downloaded.
© 1992 - 2009 All Media Guide, LLC