Reggae from Nigeria? Well, not everything there is Afrobeat. »Nigerian reggae« has existed as a distinct genre since the late 1960s. It only really took off in the 1980s, helped along by radio stations in Lagos. Fight the Fire brings together songs from the years 1986 to 1991, placing message-driven digital reggae alongside Nigerian dub.
The title track comes from the musician and singer Orits Williki and delivers a classic roots anthem, with a beautifully harmonised chorus set against delightfully cheap-sounding digital instrumentation. Other pieces make the fusion of reggae with Nigerian traditions even more apparent. Mac Dessy Adult, for instance, offers on »Labrock Dub« pretty much exactly what the title promises: a restrained, rolling instrumental in which the guitar, in the second half, breaks up dub purism with controlled, elongated solos. More playfully electronic are B.G. and Fibre on »Drunken Driver (Dub)«, where the vocals in the second half are not merely dropped in as small fragments but are also noticeably faded in and out on the volume control.
At times, even the choice of subject matter differs from what is common in Jamaican reggae. The singer Oby Onyioha, for example, recounts in the grimly ostinato »Raid Dem Jah« how »they« raped someone’s sister, killed his mother and beheaded his father. It takes a moment to absorb.
