Roots Radics
The lean, heavy band behind early dancehall’s change of weather. Roots Radics stripped arrangements down until bass, drums and a few sharp details could fill the whole dance.
Roots Radics formed around bassist Errol “Flabba” Holt, drummer Lincoln “Style” Scott and guitarist Eric “Bingy Bunny” Lamont at the end of the 1970s. Their dry, spacious rhythm tracks became the foundation for singers including Barrington Levy, Gregory Isaacs, Israel Vibration and Wailing Souls, often through producers such as Henry “Junjo” Lawes. The band’s sound marks the road from roots reggae into rub-a-dub and early dancehall: fewer ornamental layers, more room around the bass and a snare that could define the entire room. Scientist’s dub albums made their tracks another laboratory, while decades of touring with Israel Vibration extended the band’s life far beyond one production era.