Comments on: Roger Steffens: Leader of the Hippies who killed the potency of Reggae.

By: Alex Peacemaker

Alex Peacemaker — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 18:00:41 +0000

Pro-Claimer … Roger mi brethren of old

Mi nah partial fi say … him a goodhearted1 & force of positivity in this world of hurt

who the misinformed hater write this f-ray? Ya nah know nuttin … ya wan fi accomplish? … help ya self first then ya can help others

By: Eric Rosenfeld

Eric Rosenfeld — Mon, 26 Sep 2016 07:14:27 +0000

I understand/overstand the concern about foreigners taking over or “colonizing” the music of Jamaican people and twisting it and interpreting according to their own liking. That is a reality. But Roger Steffens is not someone who does that. He’s a good friend and ally of the veteran reggae artistic community of Jamaica. He is respected by and a friend of most of them. His books are also not only about Bob Marley, even tho that’s his subject of particular interest. He has also written plenty about other artists and about the development of the music. But he is of an older generation, and he is also writing for foreign (mostly white American) fans of the music, and catering more to that particular group of reggae consumers (which has by far been the largest group and the biggest source of revenue for Jamaican eggae artists of the early reggae and roots and rockers eras). So that’s why he has had such a wide influence, and also why you may find that younger reggae fans don’t know about him. So go learn a little more next time before you write nonsense.

By: Eric Rosenfeld

Eric Rosenfeld — Mon, 26 Sep 2016 07:07:20 +0000

I understand (overstand) the concern about foreigners taking over or “colonizing” the music of Jamaican people and twisting it into their own thing. That is a reality. But Roger Steffens does not write for Black people or intend to tell their stories for them (And as a matter of fact, his books usually have Jamaican interviewees speaking for themselves). He’s writing for the giant population of mostly white, middle class American consumers of reggae music that were the major source of revenue for the veteran Jamaican artistes. These white reggae fans had every right and reason to offer their thoughts and opinions to each other about the music they were buying and going to see live shows of. If Steffens has had a wider impact than Jamaican writers (or even Black American writers) on the subject, it’s simply because the population of fans he was writing for is a whole lot larger in numbers. How many Jamaican artistes do you think you will find who are disgruntled about these white reggae fans buying their music and supporting their livelihood all these decades? Give me a break.

By: king Naphtali

king Naphtali — Sat, 24 Sep 2016 00:25:16 +0000

Wow how uninformed this article and author are, obvious!y he didn’t do any research or he would know that Peter Tosh was his favorite Wailer, or he would know about his archives which include priceless items given to him by the likes of Joe higgs, bunny wailer, burning spear etc or how he bits up the entire reggae community from the rare amazing works of lesser known artists to the current crop if JA artists,,,, people have offered him a fortune for his archives, his lives works but he won’t sell because those people wont feature it all together…. He himself told me personally he believe his archives belong in JA intact in a museum…. Whoever wants to buys it would probably only feature the Bob Marley stuff and that’s and lock up the rest so he won’t sell… Dude is far from some kumbaya hippy…get your facts straight…

By: Big Jim

Big Jim — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 23:04:29 +0000

I cant think of one person in the world who made me personally want to buy reggae music see as much live reggae concerts and travel to Jamaica than Roger. For years his radio show had more Jamaican artists come sit in studio and get a chance to speak to the people. I not only wanted to become a radio dj like Roger and have for almost 20 years played Reggae. Influential. With his magazine the Reggae and African beat- it educated me not just about Reggae but opened so many musical roads from Africa. Teacher
Has this writer even met Roger?

One of the things ive learned about Reggae is that without respect for each other we have nothing -someone who has respect is the person that makes the music grow not just here but around the world.

By: Ras Claata

Ras Claata — Sun, 01 May 2016 06:38:57 +0000

This is the 2nd bad article I’ve seen on this site in recent months, the last promoting racism and hate towards whites, why all the hating i wonder. Anyone who knows about Rogers work knows he’s not just about Bob and has done more to promote Jamaican Reggae artists in the USA than anyone i can think of, great to see the thanks he gets from a so called Reggae website.

By: Timos

Timos — Sat, 30 Apr 2016 22:02:45 +0000

I’d guess that about 99.9% of his reggae collection is comprised of artists not named Bob Marley. Bob happens to be his favorite artist, though Alton Ellis is his favorite pure singer. You may not like what Roger is about, but the singers and players that he has promoted through the years certainly apprecialove his efforts. I know because I have seen him interact with them. Titans of roots reggae music. Pictures and videos bear this out as well. While American radio basically banned reggae, Roger was tirelessly promoting it in the late 1970s through today. A lot of good articles and perspectives on this 18karatreggae, but this one is way off.

By: Ras Will

Ras Will — Sat, 30 Apr 2016 20:50:00 +0000

Yet another incredibly uninformed and moronic article by this dip shit. It’s rather ironic that he penning an article about knowledge, reggae knowledge in this instance and the article is void of all knowledge. Roger has done more to promote and recognize the players of instruments and every seminal artist outside of Bob than nearly anybody else. You mention the yout of JA don’t know him. Well they also don’t know Peter Tosh. And they certainly don’t know Israel Vibration or Culture. Just like you they are completely ignorant of history.

By: adam simeon

adam simeon — Sat, 30 Apr 2016 17:37:09 +0000

great …Another shallow National Enquirer style headline to fan the flames of racial discord. Roger Steffens passion and knowledge for reggae goes way beyond bob. He should be heralded for the history he has preserved not derided for his lack of melanin. One love is an original Rastafari idea not a hippy kumbaya one, and was supported by the words and works of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie 1st who deplored the classifications of Race, racial discrimination/intolerance and “petty prejudice”. Respect to Roger for his years of good works. In the future try getting to know people before making sweeping generalizations. a