With everyone talking about how "real" music needs to be and how music needs to come from the very soul of the artist or how music needs to reflect the true life of the artist blah, blah, blah, why is it that the rules somehow don't seem to apply when it comes to reggae music done by non-jamaicans. I've recorded musicians, in fact even produced musicians who preach and chant the "true music" mantra but for some reason need to apply their best Jamaican accent to their "Ragga." Do I agree with it? The short answer is no but allow me to expand on that thought for just a bit.

Everyone in Hawaii knows how big Reggae music is in our islands. The rhythms are infectious and we've all found ourselves bobbing our heads to it at one time or another. To create that sound, many would agree that, besides the actual feel, there are certain elements that could help us get there. The "Skank" and "One Drop" are common terms thrown around the studio when attempting to infuse a bit of reggae into our sound. I have never heard one musician say, however, "let me do this fake accent and put it into my music to make it sound reggae." Why not? Isn't the accent fake? Of course it's embarrassing for the artist to admit that they are using an accent that they "practiced" to give more "authenticity" to their sound. Even if you're good at it (which I honestly wouldn't know,) why do it?

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