Drummer Sly Dunbar and bass player Robbie Shakespeare are Jamaica's most prolific and prestigious rhythm section and production team.

They have worked on an estimated 50,000 tracks since they started their career in the early 70's. Their TAXI label, created in 1974, boasts a catalog of more than 5,000 songs, featuring every Jamaican singer or DJ ranging from Bob Marley, to Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff, Chaka Demus & Pliers, Shaggy, Sean Paul, Beenie Man...

sly & robbie about 1

In addition to being the main driving force of Jamaican music in the last 50 years, what separates Sly & Robbie from the rest is the fact that they have worked with numerous international stars, such as Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Grace Jones, Paul McCartney, Annie Lennox, Joe Cocker, James Brown, Shakira, No Doubt, Sinead O'Connor, Serge Gainsbourg, etc…

A key reason for their longevity is the utmost care they take in producing music, their sound is immediately identifiable, both very HEAVY, yet musical and accessible to Reggae and non-Reggae fans alike.

About Sly & Robbie 2

Sly Dunbar in the studio making a beat with a MIDI controller (10/17/2020)

Sly & Robbie

Ranking Joe + Sly & Robbie

TOP RANKING is the brand new album by legendary DJ Ranking Joe, inventor of the fast talking style back in the late 70s. For his comeback, Ranking Joe is spitting his lyrics over riddims created by Sly & Robbie for TABOU1. All 11 songs are mixed by Colin "Bulby" York, Jamaica's top notch mixing engineer

Season 1 - Drop 4 - Vinyl EP and Bonus tracks Ranking Joe - Top Ranking Drop

Season 1 - Drop 4 - Ranking Joe - Top Ranking

Johnny Clarke

This release is a brand new album by legendary Roots Reggae artist Johnny Clarke with Sly & Robbie, the most prestigious rhythm section in the history of Jamaican music. Johnny Clarke started his career in the 70s when Robbie Shakespeare, then musical director and bass players for the Aggrovators discovered his talent and convinced producer Bunny Lee to record Johnny, who quickly became Jamaica's number 1 artist, with hits like "Every Knee", "Love Up" and many other memorable reggae anthems

Season 1 - Drop 3 - Vinyl EP and Bonus tracks Love Up Drop

Season 1 - Drop 3 - Love Up - Johnny Clarke + Sly & Robbie

Dub Wizard Dartanyan Winston has been working with Sly & Robbie and TABOU1 for more than 10 years now. Based in the US, he grew up listening to dub masterpieces created by King Tubby, Godwin Logie or the enigmatic Groucho Smykle. His approach is definitely "old school", avoiding modern-day gimmicks and AI-induced tricks used to disastrous effects by many engineers nowadays. His latest delivery to TABOU1 is a dubbed up version of riddims created by Sly & Robbie for Nu-roots artist Junior Natural. Dartanyan chose to go the HARD way in this unique collection paying tribute to Ogun, the god of warriors, hunters, blacksmiths, technologists, and drivers in the Yoruba region, where many Jamaicans and Americans originate from.

Season 1 - Drop 2 - Vinyl EP and Bonus tracks Ogun Dub Drop

Season 1 - Drop 2 - Ogun Dub - Sly & Robbie

At the dawn of the 80s, Jamaica's music took a decisive turn towards harsher, sparser sounds, with DJ's rapidly supplanting "old school" singers and harmony groups. The Dancehall scene exploded in the sound systems of Kingston, with DJs coming and going in quick succession to feed the seemingly insatiable appetite for the Jamaican equivalent of hip hop (by the way, Jamaicans invented rap in the 60s with pioneers like U Roy, who is prominently featured with a previously unreleased live track in the Live compilation). This collection of tracks produced by Sly & Robbie features dancehall legends like Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Buju Banton, Sean Paul.

Season 1 - Completed Compilation 4 - Dancehall

Reggae started as a studio-oriented genre, then artists went onstage in Kingston, most of the time in sound systems. Then as the Reggae scene expanded internationally, they started touring with bands in front of rapt audiences. Sly & Robbie were the prime exponents, starting with Peter Tosh and Black Uhuru with whom they created arguably the baddest shows ever, filled with sonic thunder and earthquakes. Self-contained bands like Third World or the Gladiators followed on their footsteps, helping spread a message of love and peace backed by super heavy drum and bass.

Season 1 - Completed Compilation 3 - Greatest Hits Live

TABOU1 goes back to its DUB roots with this collection of dub tracks. Starting with the Abyssinians with "Mandela" a dub of the legendary roots trio's seminal "Satta Massa Gana" hit, this compilation gathers some of the best dub tracks released over the years on the label. Dub wizards like Godwin Logie, Dartanyan Winston, Gaylard Bravo, and Steven Stanley are featured. Bitty McLean mixes a previously unreleased dub of Justin Hinds and the Wailers "Book of History" featuring a marvelous kette drum part by the late Skully Simms.

Season 1 - Completed Compilation 2 - Best Dubs

Clevie and Robbie Lyn

Upcoming - Season 1 - Dub Up

Season 1 - Compilation 4 - TABOU1 Dancehall

Season 1 - Compilation 3 - TABOU1 Greatest Hits Live

Season 1 - Compilation 2 - TABOU1 inna Dub Style

Bunny Rugs

Bunny Rugs Happy

Clay Heaton

Season 1 - Generative Art by Clay Heaton

The compilation includes these songs : (track # - track title - Artist - ISRC)

1 - Mr. Love - Sophia George - FR-5U1-05-00722

2 - I'm Still In Love - Kingston Ladies - FR-5U1-80-01098

3 - Jah Kingdom - Pam Hall - FR5U11802939

4 - Unbelievable - Marley Girls - FR5U11802940

5 - Truly - Marcia Griffiths - FR5U11802941

6 - Liar - Lady Saw - FR-5U1-08-01039

7 - Stop In The Name Of Love - Judy Mowatt - FR-5U1-93-00945

8 - Sexual Healing (feat. Gramps Morgan) - Danielle - FR-5U1-08-01026

9 - Running Away Discomix - Marcia Griffiths

10 - In My House Drum & Bass Vox - Leba

Season 1 - Completed Compilation 5 - Daughters of Zion 1 2023

Season 1 - Drop 1 - Vinyl EP and Bonus tracks

Season 1 - Gold Wraps Collection

The technical collection includes various NFT wraps pertaining to TABOU1's first season of content.

Season 1 - Standard Wraps Collection

The compilation includes these songs : (track # - track title - Artist - ISRC)

1 - Jah Sun You Rise - Cat Coore - FR-5U1-98-00002

2 - Change - Chezidek - FR-5U1-09-01454

3 - Drums - Daweh Congo - FR-5U1-01-00297

4 - Baby I Love - Delroy Wilson - FR-5U1-99-00084

5 - Give Jah The Glory - Freddie McGregor - FR-5U1-00-00251

6 - Hey Yo - Keith Foundation - FR5U11802394

7 - Cool Down The Pace - Gregory Isaacs - FR5U11202135

8 - One Love - Horace Andy - FR5U11802676

9 - Lagos Jump Extended Dartanyan Remix - Bunny Rugs

10 - Hungry Mouth Bravo Discomix - Leonard Dillon aka Ethiopian

Season 1 - Completed Compilation 1 - Roots 1 2023

Season 1 - Compilation 5 - TABOU1 Daughters of Zion

Season 1 - Compilation 1 - TABOU1 Roots Hits

Bitty McLean

"Walk Away From Love" was originally recorded in the '70s by American soul singer David Ruffin from the Temptations.

In 2004, Bitty McLean recorded a cover of that song for his album "On Bond Street" and it became a hit that he has performed onstage regularly.

“Walk Away From Love” has garnered a total of 20 million plays on Spotify and Youtube.

Bitty re-recorded the song with Sly & Robbie and the song was kept under wraps ready to be released when the time would be right. We at TABOU1 are psyched that Bitty accepted to let us drop this wonderful version, along with the live version, to help launch the TABOU1.com platform.