Stick To My Roots – An Autobiography. Tippa Irie. London: Jacaranda Books, 2024. ISBN: 9781914344039. 342 pages. £ 10.99.
Anthony “Tippa Irie” Henry is a Black British deejay or MC who started his career with the Saxon International Sound System and who went on to beceome a very successful recording artist in Britain in the 1980s and 1990s. He was born Brixton of West Indian parentage and grew up in multicultural London in the 1960s and 1970s. Tippa’s father used to have a sound system (the Musical Messiah Sound System) and every Friday and Saturday night, as many as 400 people would gather in Tippa’s father’s basement to listen to some vintage toasting by Big Youth, Dillinger, Trinity or U-Roy. This was quite an education for young Tippa as in addition to hearing all the masters of reggae, he also got the chance to practice his toasting and managed to developed hs deejaying skills at these parties.
As a struggling teenaged deejay, Tippa worked with various sound systems like Saxon and King Tubby’s and then he finally entered a competition called Sir Lloydd’s DJ Clash and won. Tippa was then encouraged by Drummie Zeb (Aswad’s drummer and co-lead vocalist) who agreed to play drums and sing harmonies on his first single, “The Opposite”.
Like his friend Smiley Culture, Tippa Irie often resorted to humour to defuse tensions and this is apparent on listening to his song “Complain Neighbour” which deals with the recurring problem of English people complaining about noisy Jamaicans next door and eventually calling the police. In that song, an English family is trying to watch well-known TV series Coronation Street and Eastenders while a Jamaican blues party is in full swing next door. Tippa delivered his lively toast on a revamped version of the Heavenless riddim which had been very popular in 1984, which ensured the song’s popularity.
In 1986 Tippa Irie had a Number One reggae hit with a reggae-jazzy tune entitled “Hello Darling” and he later recorded a song with the French band Bill Baxter entitled “Welcome to Paris” which sold well in France. He went on to record many successful tunes with various recording artists like The Black Eyed Peas for instance.
Tippa Irie’s autobiography, entitled Stick To My Roots after one of his songs, is a very engaging account of life as a Black British teenager in multicultural London, contains a wealth of information about the growth of development of British reggae, and, last but not least, provides a lot of insights into the art of reggae deejaying and its adaptation to the British context.
Life as a Black British teenager is a major theme in Tippa Irie’s autobiography. Tippa was born in the UK of Jamaican parentage and experienced racial discrimination in various forms. He mentions the “sus laws” (from the Suspected Persons Act) which allowed the police to stop and search any person who was “loitering with intent” and was likely to commit an offence. The 1981 Brixton riots were partly caused by such tactics use by the police and Tippa Irie’s testimony is particulalry valuable here.
Tippa’s autobiography also provides some invaluable insight into the growth of a distinct reggae tradition in the UK thanks to local sound systems like King Tubby’s and of course Saxon Sound International with which Tippa became affiliated. Other important artists affiliated with that sound included the singer Maxi Priest and the deejay Smiley Culture who went on a succesful career with the hits “Police Officer” and “Cockney Translation”. Tippa’s account of the camaraderie, warmth but also of the dangers and obstacles associated with sound system culture illustrates the birth of a real Black British culure in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s.
This sound system culture was the bedrock or the foundation for a distinct deejaying tradition which developed on British soil and which asserted itself in the face of the more established Jamaican tradition. Black British MCs included Tippa himself, Smiley Culture, Papa Levi, General Slater, and Daddy Rusty. They developed a local deejaying style which mixed Jamaican Creole with Cockney slang and came up with a truly original sound. That deejay patter can be heard on Smiley Culture’s “Cockney Translation” but also on Tippa Irtie’s “The Opposite” and “Complain Neighbour”. Tippa’s book provides many excerpts from some of his toasts and this is an invaluable resource for researchers interested in the art of the deejay and in the growth of urban cultures in the UK.
The most endearing characteristic of Tippa Irie’s autobiography is probably its collective nature, which reflects the ethos of sound system culture. Indeed Tippa asked key players on the sound system scene to write short testimonies which put Tippa’s work in its proper context and establish his credentials. As a consequence, the book contains many perspectives and poitns of view which intersect with Tippa’s take on life in the UK as a sound system DJ. These testimonies constitute another invaluable resource for researchers as they were wirtten by important but often ignored actors on the reggae scene. But most of all they embody the principle of collaboration which is at the heart of sound system culture: every contribution helps in the end.
On the whole, Tippa Irie’s autobiography is a very important ressource which should satisfy both reggae enthusiasts and researchers, which is no mean feat.