No, I’m not talking about the Sade album, or the Sade song, or the TV Girl song, either. I’m talking about the genre born in the UK in the 70s, but really gaining prominence in the 80s. It’s a sub-genre of reggae that hyper focused on love and slow wining. Kids would pack themselves in whatever transportation they could find, dressed to the nines and tens and go to the club or the house function and dance their asses off all night or until curfew hit. Within those walls, the kids could forget about the hardships of the outside, and dance until the wallpaper fell off. It’s something about that that I find so beautiful. There’s a good chance you’ve heard something like this or maybe even a song from its heyday. “SWEET / I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE” borrows heavily from Lover’s Rock and if you’ve been at a function and heard “I’m Still in Love with You” by Sean Paul, congrats, you’ve been a fan and didn’t know it.

How I became a Lover’s Rock superfan isn’t all that interesting. I was listening to CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, and I thought “SWEET / I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO DANCE” was a bossa nova song, but my friend Lolo quickly corrected me that it was Lover’s Rock. The only time I had heard that phrase before was from Sade and I remembered not liking that album (at the time) so I wasn’t super excited to try it out, but boy I was in for a surprise. It’s funny, actually. After I did a deep dive on the genre, I realized that this sound is all over Sade’s discography. I mean, I sound like a broken record, but “Your Love Is King” is so Lover’s Rock its ridiculous. I found a mixtape on YouTube made by DeDUBMaster and listened to it in the library on campus over and over and over. I couldn’t get enough. Finally, I had found my genre of reggae. Growing up our Dad would play Bob and Damian Marley, but mostly the more politically-charged tracks, and my ears never gravitated to them. What would always get me would be the slower tracks. Tracks like “One Love / People Get Ready” and of course “Three Little Birds.” “One Love” especially because of the background harmonies during the verses. Those still make me melt, but that track is deeply religious. I just needed straight up love songs. Within this mix were artists like Janet Kay, Carroll Thompson and Paulette Walker. Their voices immediately making their presence known and making sure you never forget.

I immediately had to get more. I go to Spotify and look up a super-niche genre “80s UK Lovers Rock,” and not only is there multiple playlists, but also compilations! So, I’m in heaven. The first track I hear, changed my life. “I Was Born A Winner” by Freddie McGregor. I love this song. So much so that I listened to it about 20 times a day. To the point where I couldn’t start my day on campus until I heard it. It was still warm outside and having the sun beat down on you, walking a half mile across campus soundtracked to not only this song, but “Big Ship,” “Loving Pauper,” and “Natural Collie,” as well. By the way, “Natural Collie” is the exact same melody as “You Are My Starship” by Norman Connors. I’m sure I annoyed everyone because I really only played Lover’s Rock for about 4 straight months. What is hilarious is that, around this exact same time, I was getting into Budgie. Budgie is a producer from the UK who’s worked with Chuck Inglish, T.F., Buddy, and a whole lot more people. He also does a beat tape series called Panty Soakers. He takes samples and flips them in ways you can’t believe and they’re all really good, but as I was going through them the fourth installment really caught my ears. On Panty Soakers 4, he really tapped into his Lover’s Rock bag and created 10 amazing tracks.

Real quick, It’s a couple track I want to recommend.

“Silly Games” by Janet Kay. This is the Lover’s Rock song. Every track worth its salt will remind you of this track in way. The synth hits that the track is built on, the bassline that’s ever prevalent in every single reggae song ever made. Kay’s voice is so innocent, but full of sadness. Her voice became the blueprint for the whole genre as soon as this song touched the masses. The final high note she hits is the ultimate flex.

“I’m So Sorry” by Carroll Thompson. This one is easily my favorite and as soon as you press play on it you’ll see why. The first 25 seconds are what I imagine being transported through time and space sounds like. The soundtrack to hitting warp-speed. The beginning drum fill, the organ in the background, the guitar looping the trademark reggae riff, but on top of all that is Carroll. I have no idea what she’s saying, but it’s so ethereal to me. Insanely beautiful.

“Silly” by Paulette Walker. My god, the opening horns mixed with those drums and the piano holding it all together? Oh my god, dude. I seriously can’t believe nobody has rapped over that yet. This is another song about heartbreak and being taken advantage of, but it sounds so happy because the whole song is played in major key. The bassline on this one is so insane. This is what I would imagine would get the bodies together and have the walls sweating all night. Around 1:53 the opening measures get added on top of the groove that came after and it’s incredible.

“I Am in Love” by Jennifer Lara. This is a cover, but I have no idea of who because I love this version way too much to sully what I know. I absolutely adore the noise that is prevalent throughout the whole song. I don’t want to call it a synth, because it sounds more like a distorted horn that’s been put through every distorter they could find before they found the right one. What’s funny about the bass is that it sounds like an upright bass, not a guitar. That is sick. Only wild part is the audio was not mixed at all, dude. It sounds like they recorded the song from an old radio into a microphone. Regardless, it got the job done.

“Facety Lady“ by Budgie. This is just a beat, but it perfectly captures the energy and grooves that the genre wants to communicate. It sounds like a dimly-lit, smoke-filled room full of 20-sometimes having a great time. The bassline on this one is one of the most mesmerizing basslines ever heard by human ears and made by human hands. The drums are insane, too. The little noise that happens after the drum fill is a moment, dude. He was so in his bag.

This genre just speaks to me, it’s the exact grooves and chord progressions I want to hear, and I haven’t even scratched the surface yet. I haven’t memorized every song in that mix or gone through the catalogues of every artist, either. Can you imagine my excitement? There’s a whole realm of untapped material out there just waiting on me. More memories to be made, more songs to make me go, “Oh my god, what?” I can’t believe it took me this long. You know what it’s like actually? It’s like the first time you hear “Looks Good With Trouble” by Solange. It perfectly encapsulates a moment before you even hear the lyrics. In that song, you are teleported to the backseat of a car and you’re making out with someone you find insanely attractive, time is frozen, nothing else matters. This is all before Solange utters one word. Use that same logic on a song like “Our Reggae Music” by Brown Sugar. Those first 24 seconds teleport you to a house function, you are surrounded by bodies, all grooving along to the same bassline. You’re wining with someone you might’ve met that night, but it doesn’t matter. Within the timestamps of these songs the outside world, reality, doesn’t matter.

Also, find and watch Small Axe. It’s an anthology series created by Steve McQueen, the same guy who made 12 Years A Slave. One of the films in the series is about a girl who sneaks out of her house and goes to a Lover’s Rock party with her friend. It’s tight, one of the creators of the genre and one of the people who gave it it’s namesake, Dennis Bovell makes a cameo, too. It perfectly encapsulates the stories I’ve read from people who gave interviews about going to the parties. It features “Silly Games” so prominently that anytime you hear it, its it’s own isolated moment that you have to take in.

Hopefully this 1.4k word gush-fest got you interested into or shed a light on a genre that you might’ve not known about. There’s countless mixes and albums to purse through to and fall in love with. I always hate wrapping these up because now I have to figure out how to end a gush-fest. Why does it have to end? Anyways I’m 23 right now. I turn 24 in a couple months. I’m turnt, young, black and beautiful. Wait until I fully figure it out. 27-year-old Deshaun might be the coolest guy ever alive.

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