yardie's reggae collection - artist page

---

WAYNE SMITH (b. 1965 - ) UNDER ME SLENG TENG * * * 1985 - Greensleeves - studio - discs:1 "Under Me Sleng Teng" is considered the milestone signing the beginning of the digital era in the Jamaican muisc. Wayne Smith started recording for Prince Jammy in 1980. A friend of Wayne, Noel Daley, had a Casio keyboard that had a pre set rhythm on which Wayne wrote the lyrics. Once at Jammy's Tony Asher constructed the final rhythm. Jammy released it in 1985 and it became an instant success. Jammy's studio, with its keyboards, sequencer and drum machine, became the place where the new era begun. At this point the innovators did not use live recordings, and some small equipment was the only thing required. The revolution undertaken by "Under Me Sleng Teng" brought a new way of creating music: the technical side seemed more important than the artistic one. The digital era was totally accepted by the Jamaican audience as another step forward. Here starts what I am hardly able to appreciate.