Steve Netshishivhe – Deep Roots of Dub | Album Review

February 1, 2018

By: Ras Phumudzo Maba

Steve Netshishivhe went to studio for a third time and came out with a dub album titled “Deep Roots of Dub”. A 14 tracks (66 minutes) album that provides a much needed space for deep meditation. As the name suggests, the album carries 12 massive dubs spiced with 2 vocals where Steve gives the listeners a taste of his rough sketchy voice.

The album opens up with ‘Biko’s Painful Story’ which takes the listeners back to the injustices faced by Steve Biko at the hands of the then apartheid government of South Africa. Lyrically, the track is though provoking and can easily bring tears to your face, however the dub effects heals the soul and reassures listeners that this is a dub album.

The second track, ‘I Never Trouble No One’, has Steve expressing his own misjudgement by people who often treats him as a hooligan or trouble-maker. The captivating melody in this track alongside Steve’s voices confirms his depth as a singer.

From the third track to the last track, the albums takes a full swing mode of dubs. The fast paced title track ‘Deep Roots Dub’ opens up the dub session and demonstrates the versatility of dub music with Steve saying “You’ll never cut the roots of dub music, you know, coz this is a deep roots ting, you know, Reggae Music, Dub Music Yeah Mahn”.

I Dub What I Like - Tribute To Steve Biko

‘We Chant What We Dub’ and ‘Dub of Good Man’ follow the title track. Unlike the title track, these two tracks takes a slow pace and are typical dub tracks filled with voice and instruments echoes and overvibes. Halfway the album, Steve once again revisit the story of Steve Biko in ‘Biko’s Brutal Dub’ this time around showcasing his dubbing skills – surely this track will be in repeat mode for most of the dub music lovers.

Other tracks that stand out in the album are ‘Natural Dub’, ‘United We Dub’, ‘Rainbow Dub’, ‘I Never Dub No One’ – which is the dub version of ‘I Never Trouble No One’, and ‘Nepotism of Dub’. These tracks demonstrate the smooth transition of Steve from one dubstyle to another. Notably, ‘Smiling Dub’ takes off with a heavy bassline which is beautiful complemented by the acoustic as the track progresses – I could not help it but feel the influence of one of the heavy weights in dub, Scientist.

At number twelve, ‘Old School Dub’ is a typically roots dub track – a one-step mixed fused with some smooth piano melodies from afar. The album finally closes off with ‘Time to Dub’, this is my personal favourite and I believe it was deliberately made the last track so that we can have a feel of what the next project will be holding for us.

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For an album that is produced locally with such quality, this album will surely stand the test of time. For Steve, this album will claim a spot for himself in the hearts of dub music lovers.

TRACKLIST