Digital K – King Tubby’s in the House – Review

Digital K

King Tubby’s in the House (ROIR)
by Joshua Brown

With a thriving new generation of DJs, mixers, and sound alchemists, the name of the late King Tubby keeps popping up more and more. He was the popularizer of a music from Jamaica, mostly instrumental reggae, called “dub.” The word comes from the slang term for making copies of tapes (or “doubles”), and would later refer to a mixing technique, pioneered by King Tubby’s recording studio, of cutting and pasting tracks and sound bites, a method whose evolutionary possibilities are just beginning to unfold. Digital K is King Tubby’s nephew who, in his youth, spent in Jamaica, got exposure in his uncle’s studio, to the work of Bob Marley, Bunny Lee, Scientist, and many other world-famous reggae artists. In ’85, he moved to the United States to follow in his uncle’s footsteps, forming Digital K Hi-Fi studio. King Tubby’s in the House is an album which combines elements of traditional dub reggae, hip hop, acid jazz, and house. The mix is bare-bones and distinctly urban with the trademark aggro of contemporary Black music, but without the negative attitude. The beat is positive but unapologetic, non-invasive yet capturing.