Culture — Live in Africa, Cape Town, 2000

Full concert by Culture, a major Jamaican roots reggae group led by Joseph Hill, captured in Cape Town, South Africa, around the year 2000. Later released as ‘Live in Africa’, this live concert documents one of the band’s first appearances on South African soil, before a large crowd gathered for the occasion. Formed in 1976 and established by ‘Two Sevens Clash’ as one of the strongest voices in conscious reggae, Culture is fronted here by Joseph Hill, whose distinctive voice moves between Rastafari preaching, humour and Pan-African commitment. The set draws on the group’s classics — ‘International Herb’, ‘Too Long in Slavery’ and ‘Two Sevens Clash’ — carried by a roots rhythm section and vocal harmonies. Filmed in Africa, the concert carries a particular symbolic weight: Jamaican reggae returning to the continent claimed as its spiritual root. For roots reggae listeners, this live recording of Culture is a valuable record of Joseph Hill’s stage presence a few years before his death in 2006.