TOUGHER THAN TOUGH

Derrick Morgan

The glorification or condemnation of criminal activity is a common theme in music, you know that. For a lot of people, the first music that probably comes to mind is gangster rap (kind of obvious). Mexico has had narcocorrido, a genre of traditional music largely about drug traffickers, dating back to the thirties. I'm sure if I wasn't kinda lazy I could do some actual research here and figure out just how far back this whole bad guys sell routine goes back. But I'm lazy tonight (and, really, about every night) so I'll cut to the chase.

A random check of ol' Version's Galore just sent me on a wild rude boy goose chase. For the uninitiated, rude boys were what you might call hooligans, back in 1960's Jamaica. "Dem a loot, dem a shoot" as Desmond Dekker sang ("007 (Shanty Town)," link below). Typically poor, typically male, typically stylish and typically badass, these disenfranchised youth made quite a stir in their day. Lurking in the streets of Trenchtown, packing weapons and attitude, plainly speaking, they didn't take any shit. There have been many bastardizations of the term rude boy, particularly in the UK, but these were proto-OGs you did not want to fuck with. I won't go into the Specials or the whole Two Tone thing here, because any mention of the terms rude, rudie, or rude boy, in that stuff seems a little disingenuous (I know, they're just playing covers). Regardless, here's a few from the original crop. Some are favorites. The Slickers cut in particular, is one I've always liked. "Johnny Too Bad" paints a picture in the first two lines that sucks you right in. It is high on my list of the most innately badass reggae songs ever.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Slickers - Johnny Too Bad mp3 at Art Decade
Derrick Morgan - Tougher Than Tough .mp3 at Cubik Musik
Peter Tosh & The Soulmates - Rudie's Medley mp3 at Wizznutzz
The Pioneers - Rudies Are The Greatest mp3 at Wizznutzz
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes - No Good Rudie mp3 at Pixie Radio
Desmond Dekker - 007 (Shanty Town) mp3 at Le Blog de la Grande Chose
Dennis Alcapone - DJ Roll Call mp3 at Versions Galore (rhythm from "007")
Highly Recommended:
Twenty two variations on Dekker's 007 (Shanty Town) at Versions Galore
Video:
Rude Boy trailer at YouTube Excellent overview. Highly recommended.
Visit:
“Rudie’s In Court Now”: The Rudeboy and the Role of Popular Vernaculars in the Politicization of Jamaican Music by James Mathien, Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago