This exciting heritage media project designed by Community Project Manager Caroline Oldland for Ujima Radio and funded by Heritage Lottery Foundation (HLF) was created with Bristol young people to celebrate Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago’s fifty years of independence in 2012.  A group of between 15 -30 local young people aged 17-25 took part in the project, training in research, broadcasting, media and film making to celebrate this … Read more

Dubstep is a genre of music which became popular in the mid 2000s in London, Bristol, Leeds and many other UK cities. It originated from different styles of music, growing out of garage and 2-step, as well as significant dub and soundsystem influences. With reductionist tendencies and a strong emphasis on bass, early dubstep parties were characterised by an intimacy that came from smaller, darker … Read more

A dubplate is a 7”, 10” or 12” acetate that has music cut into it in grooves, on a lathe (see dub cutting in Pinch music video at Optimum in Bristol). Whilst all records start out life as a dubplate, from which a master copy is later pressed, in reggae dancehall culture a dubplate is an exclusive ‘one-of-a-kind’ record that only some DJs have access … Read more