Linton Kwesi Johnson – Bass Culture (VG+/VG+) – LP, JP 1980, No OBI

Bass Culture is an LP by Linton Kwesi Johnson from 1980 released on the Island Records label.

About this album

Bass Culture is a landmark dub poetry album that turns reggae into urgent political commentary. Released in 1980, it finds Linton Kwesi Johnson blending measured spoken verse with heavyweight bass lines and stripped-back rhythm sections to confront racism, police violence and Black British life with clarity and force. The title track, along with songs such as Inglan Is A Bitch and Di Black Petty Booshwah, helped define Johnson’s reputation as one of the most incisive voices in British music. Its fusion of militant poetics and deep dub has kept the album central to reggae’s political history and to British protest culture.