Kabaka Pyramid’s Rebel Music gets new life

Fifteen years can change a lot in music. Trends come and go, audiences shift, and artistes inevitably evolve. But for Kabaka Pyramid, the years since his breakthrough Rebel Music EP have not meant abandoning the foundation on which his career was built.

Instead, the Grammy Award-winning reggae artiste is returning to it. On August 28, Kabaka will release Rebel Music – The Lyrics Tape, a 10-track project marking the 15th anniversary of the EP that helped introduce him to a wider audience and establish his reputation as one of Jamaica’s more lyrically conscious voices. But the project is less about recreating 2011 and more about examining what has endured since then.

Since his breakout year in music, he has moved from emerging artiste to international stages and even Grammy success with The Kalling. Through it all, his ability to move between reggae, dancehall, and hip hop while maintaining an unmistakably Jamaican perspective has remained a defining feature of his music. That musical identity is again at the centre of Rebel Music – The Lyrics Tape.

Three songs already released from the project — Rotation, From Weh Day and We Dem Wah — offer a glimpse into the different influences that have shaped the artiste. “There is so much going on in the world, and I really believe if we played more reggae we would be better off,” Kabaka Pyramid said. The music has always been able to uplift people, bring people together and give us something positive to hold on to.” With that said, he is encouraging DJs, selectors, and veteran artistes to invest in younger talent, a plight that makes the anniversary project about more than Kabaka’s own journey.

Fifteen years after Rebel Music helped him find his audience, he is using that milestone to question whether emerging reggae acts are being given similar opportunities to find theirs. Across its 10 tracks, the project moves through cultural commentary, reflection, reggae consciousness, dancehall energy, and lyrical competition. In doing so it connects the artiste he was becoming 15 years ago with the one he is today.

For an artiste, longevity is not simply measured by how long one manages to remain visible. Sometimes it is also measured by whether the things that mattered at the beginning still matter after the success arrives. Fifteen years later, Kabaka Pyramid appears to be making his answer clea…