The Women in Reggae Mix
For this year's International Women's Day, Leonel Manzanares de la Rosa curates an incredible mix of reggae songs written by women.
Leonel Manzanares de la Rosa is just a writer from the Champion's League.
There’s a Chinese proverb, mostly attributed to Mao Zedong, which says: Women hold up half the sky." Its intention is to acknowledge the equality between men and women, and to recognize that women are capable to achieve greatness. But in practice, our societies have done a remarkably terrible job at giving women their due; instead, we have built a system of oppression that silences their voices, obscures their achievements, and threatens their lives, every single day. We have a moral, historical duty to dismantle this dynamic, to change things in order to amplify and empower women. To achieve true equality.
In spite of this shameful history of oppression and abuse, women have always been at the forefront of our social, scientific, and artistic evolutions. No human accomplishment would ever exist without the invaluable contributions of female pioneers, and some of them have single-handedly invented entire fields of study without which our current understanding of the world would be impossible.
It was a woman who invented rock and roll. It was a woman who created science-fiction. It was a human who shaped the classical music of the entire 20th century. It was a woman who developed the notions that would come to define the totality of Western music. And there have been women in every nation, in every era, in every discipline, building our cultures from the ground up. Women don't hold up half the sky, they hold the foundations of our entire existence.
Reggae, of course, is no exception. Every stage in the development of the Jamaican style has seen a great number of talented and influential women pushing things forward; in mento and ska, in rocksteady, in roots and in dancehall, even in dub. This mix is a tribute to the women that defined the genre.
Tracklist:
Norma Fraser – First Cut Is The Deepest
Myrna Hague – What About Me
Denise Darlington – Feel So Good
The Webber Sisters – Come On Home
Dawn Penn – No No No
Cecile Campbell – Leave Me In Misery
Hortense Ellis – Secretly
Little Audrey – Sea Puss And Bammie
Soulettes – Deh Pon Dem
Angela Prince – You A Fool Boy
Jennifer Lara – I Am In Love
Claudette McLean – Give Love Another Try
Delia Humphrey – Dream Land
Jerry Jones – There’s A Chance For Me
Rita Marley – It’s Alright
Marcia Griffiths – Working
Doreen Schaffer – Ain’t Gonna Change My Mind
Josephine Bryan – What Could I Do Without Jah
Marlene Webber – My Baby
Elaine Monteque – Hurt So Good
Cherry Ann – Tell Me Something Good
Pansey Scott – Top Of The World
Pam Reid – Mysterious You
Carol Barnwell – One Day At A Time
Enid Cumberland – Town And Country Café
Summertaires – You’re Gonna Leave Me
Nome & Paulette (The Tonettes) – Everytime
Susan Cadogan – Fever
Sharon Forrester – Here Comes The Sun
The Gaylettes – Son Of A Preacher Man
Joya Landis – Kansas City
The Dreamletts – Really Now
Judy Mowatt – I Shall Sing
Marguerita – Woman A Come
Paulette Williams – My Island
Phyllis Dillon – Perfidia
Norma White – I Want Your Love
Cynthia Schloss – Cha La La, I Need You
Paula Clarke – Skip And Dance
Carol Brown – Just Enough To Keep Me Hanging On
Jennifer Day – Together
LINK: https://www.mixcloud.com/afhelvegum/af-helvegums-women-in-reggae-mix/