Babylon East - 9780822347057

Babylon EastPerforming Dancehall, Roots Reggae, and Rastafari in Japan\nAuthor(s): Marvin Sterling\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Duke University Press, United States\nImprint: Duke University Press\nISBN-13: 9780822347057, 978-0822347057\nSynopsis\nAn important center of dancehall reggae performance, sound clashes are contests between rival sound systems: groups of emcees, tune selectors, and sound engineers. In World Clash 1999, held in Brooklyn, Mighty Crown, a Japanese sound system and the only non-Jamaican competitor, stunned the international dancehall community by winning the event. In 2002, the Japanese dancer Junko Kudo became the first non-Jamaican to win Jamaicas National Dancehall Queen Contest. High-profile victories such as these affirmed and invigorated Japans enthusiasm for dancehall reggae. In Babylon East, the anthropologist Marvin D. Sterling traces the history of the Japanese embrace of dancehall reggae and other elements of Jamaican culture, including Rastafari, r.