It was Jeremy Harding who, among many other things, shared this anecdote about Japanese tourists travelling to Jamaica with a dictionary ‘Japanese/Patois’, during his lecture session in Seattle. No need to run to the bookstore though, rudebwoys and gals, as this time around we are happy to upload the complete transcript of another legendary session with musicians from this hugely influential island, smoothing out language barriers and dropping knowledge on tings a gwaan.

Music as a universal language might feel like a boring cliché, but the original riddim twins Sly & Robbie actually put Jamaica on the musical map almost single-handedly over the course of the last four decades, recording with everyone from Black Uhuru and Ini Kamoze to James Brown, Grace Jones and The Rolling Stones (and a zillion more). 50.000 recorded songs is more than most dictionaries have to offer in word entries, but via the Jamaican system of versioning, Sly & Robbie can even claim a breathtaking 200.000 title-strong discography, making their killing riddim section the most recorded artists on the planet - ever.

Watching the dynamic duo in real life you'd be hard pressed to find Robbie without a bass guitar within his reach as he nonchalantly played alongside all music examples in the Academy auditorium, not forgetting Sly who apparently seems most comfortable behind a drum kit, sticks in his magic hands, perpetually delivering the foundation for some of the most righteous tunes across all genres. How do they keep excited after so many sessions? “We live and breathe music, so that’s what happens. And you make sure people who come to see you leave happy. Every night we play is different; if you come and see us tonight it will be different from last night. We play the same old stuff, but we add new spice to it every night. Yesterday we flew in from Jamaica and London, went straight onstage, so you saw us last night tired. Probably tonight we’ll be different.”

They were.

Sly & Robbie Lecture Session Transcript

BONUS: More Barcelona transcripts already up in our archive.

Appleblim
Blu & Exile
Buraka Som Sistema
Chuck D
El Guincho
Fennesz
Front 242
Goldie
Melvin van Peebles
Sergi Jordà (Reactable Workshop)
Skepta
Stuart Hawkes

More coming soon.