Que vive le reggae on the River Nile

A reggae festival in Cairo deserves applause, writes Shohdy Naguib, who also spoke to Serges Kassy, one of the stars of the show
Nuits du reggae, a nocturnal sun-splash on the shores of the River Nile, might be viewed as rather more than a tourist attraction against the halogen-lit backdrop of Cairo's Opera House. The great river, after all, flows long, and history is mighty old.
The term reggae was coined sometime in the late sixties to name the latest in a rapid series of musical styles emerging from the dance floors of post- independence Jamaica. A grass roots musical industry was emerging, and it would eventually celebrate Jamaica as the "loudest island in the World."
Competing labels produced now legendary hits as the riddims that inspired much of what we nowadays call Western dance music were struck. At the same time, Jamaica's socio- political scene was becoming more and more troubled. A brave attempt at economic reform met its end at the hands of US policies in the region and the situation changed from bad to worse. A recent documentary chronicling Jamaica's impoverishment and despair was aptly titled Life in Debt.
"One love! One heart! Let's live together and feel alright!"
So sang Bob Marley, and his words, amplified by the music industry, reached faraway corners of the Earth. Much of the music was recorded at the Island studios in the UK, where a smart descendant of the slave drivers skillfully "polished" the exotic sound of The Wailers, having rightly perceived the tremendous commercial potential of the syncopated rhythm with its message of freedom. The song became an international hit. Reggae had broken into the pop-music-industry.
Embarrassing it was indeed to the suit-clad executives to hear reminiscences from the age of the slave trade overlapping with resentment of contemporary inequality and social injustice, to be reminded of the fiery wrath of the Almighty while political corruption was exposed in the derisive term poly- tricks. But gradually it did dawn that there was something going on in Jamaica, that these dreadlocks were witnesses, that the heads they crowned harbored unusual ideas while their music wondrously conveyed positive vibrations directly from heart to heart.
In the midst of all the stage smoke a spiritual tradition was also being outlined, and it was obviously evolving from the Old Testament. Rastafarians, though, were almost unheard of at the time, except in their native island where they were dismissed by politicians and the media as an embarrassing nuisance, uncombed pot-smoking freaks who had no respect for the established post- colonial rank and order and were busy tarnishing the image of Jamaica.
The origins of Rastafari (as they call themselves) are to be found in the 19th-century communities of escapee African slaves who settled in the mountainous regions of Jamaica and, after a long struggle, gained almost absolute freedom from the British colonialists. The story goes these liberated men and women reread the Bible and came up with conclusions that didn't quite square with the claims of historical and spiritual superiority made by the white missionaries.
Egypt and Ethiopia and the Great River Nile were reclaimed by African thinkers from the Caribbean island. The story of the Jews' enslavement in Babylon seemed perfectly to describe their own experience in the New World. Exodus suggested a way out of slavery, a search for the Promised Land. Freighters were chartered and many people sold all their belongings to sail to the shores of freedom and into the loving embraces of Mother Africa. Attempts at physical return to Africa, though, were all upset in one way or the other, though the spiritual aspiration of a return roots could not be overpowered. The Rastafari ultimately identified Jamaica with Babylon; its socio- political order was described, with contempt, as a "Babylonian system."
But back to the shores of the Nile, where the reggae riddim is stepping on its rhythmic mother-soil to receive an immediate response from the large audience. Egypt's own rhythmic variety has yet to be explored by the music industry, though Mohamed Mounir is perhaps the beginning of such exploration. Three thousand tickets were sold on Mounir's first night, according to the Canadian cultural attaché, a thousand more than security regulations normally permit. The figures might justify the presence of the star of Nubian pop, and he at least reggaefied some tunes for the occasion. The next two nights didn't move as many tickets, but reggae there was.
The French group Tryo opened the second night, four happy-go-lucky lads prancing on stage singing in the tradition of chanson français to the beats of a weird mix of Afro-inspired French freehand. Tryo proposed a sweet social critique, unobtrusively demanding the legalisation of the weed, mildly, existentially lamenting life in the suburbs and offering free advertisements for French Telecom. It's a pity we did not have enough fans of Tryo, who are surely numerous, to give us cues to their sense de l'humour.
The Canadian band Kaliroots had a fully- fleshed stage presence, with a massive brass section and gently weaving female back- vocalists to please both eye and ear. The steady beat got the people moving and everything fell into place. Kaliroots -- a wonderful example of reggae music transcending racial and geographical borders, eliminating them to pass along the message of tolerance and respect.
On closing night we were treated to the authentic reggae experience. Serges Kassy & The Roots come from Côte D'Ivoire, and delivered what we were longing for, African roots in lively proximity. These were seasoned performers, confidently taking the audience beyond self-consciousness and to the heights of Inity, the mystical feeling of unity brought into being through the realisation of a shared humanity.
Heartfelt thanks to the cultural missions of France, Canada and Côte D'Ivoire for coming up with the idea of this wonderful musical festival. It is good, too, that the Opera House hosted it. The reggae river flows wide and plentiful and its healing waters are a blessing for the thirsty.
I can see that you are a Rastaman. What is your message?
For Rastas whether you are a Muslim or a Christian, a Buddhist... we are all brothers. There are no fences... That's the way the message gets by... You don't take into account other religious conceptions or another political belonging. For Rastas, we are only equals. When there is no border between us, the message gets across, that's it."
Given the reality of religious strife, everybody killing everybody, how do you get across your Rasta message then?
As long as man will consider his kin as his brother, there can be no difference between us. As long as men will consider that we are all God's children, then there is no difference between us.
But people say they have different Gods...
They say, they say... But we say that, from the moment that there is no barrier between you and I, that we are brothers, then there can be no strife between us, because we live alike. Rastas consider that there is only one God. One God, whether you are Muslim... it's the same God... whether you are Christian, it's the same God... Whether you are Rasta, it's the same God. One love. From the moment that we realise we all come from the same God, we have no interest to fight; our interest is to be brothers. This is a message of peace and love that we carry, to take down fences, because we all serve the same God, we came from the same God, be it Allah, Buddha, Jah... It's all the same. One love.
What role can the Rasta movement play today?
The Rasta movement can play a role because today there are people who are against globalisation... All this movement... People like Bob Marley have brought a message, so that today the Africans, people of the Third World, have understood that they have an importance. Peoples need to get together. Rastas have in this an important role to play, because they advocate non- violence, they advocate peace and love, they are against war. They ask peoples to get together, because we are all one.
Are you aware that when in the concert you hailed Palestine, people cheered, but when you hailed Israel people booed?
What I want to say is that whatever the message you can bring, all the beginnings are difficult... Who would have thought today that the Soviet Union would not exist anymore? Generations to come may convey the message it may not be us. I am convinced that Israelis and Palestinians will live together. They have to live together... I am sure of it. It's true that the message today is difficult.
Apartheid...
Apartheid -- who would have thought that apartheid would have disappeared... I have faith. I believe. Some people today say "no", but tomorrow they will say "yes". And today, in Israel, there are people who are ready to live with Palestinians. Today, in Palestine, there are people ready to live with Israelis. The truth is that the will of God will always triumph. This means that it will take time...
We always considered that the West, Babylon, was controlling the peoples of the Third World... It's a struggle. Third World peoples have to rely upon themselves. I will take a concrete example. Look at what happened with the Japanese today. But they became conscious that they had to work. Today, they count amongst the great powers. Peoples of the Third World have to learn to count on themselves to one day get rid of the force and the power of Babylon -- that's the media, that's global finance, that's culture monopolised to control Third World countries.
Are you aware that this is the first reggae concert ever in Egypt?
Yes, I was told. And it's a real pleasure for us to help people discover reggae and the Rasta message. I saw Mounir play reggae. They say that he converted his musical pieces into reggae for the circumstance. Yet everything needs a beginning... At the beginning in Ivory Coast it was difficult to play reggae because people thought it was the music of bad boys, people with crazy haircuts, they thought we were madmen. Many years later, we succeeded in imposing reggae with Alpha Blondy, and everywhere in the world people know the Côte D'Ivoire because the Côte D'Ivoire plays reggae.
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