In the glorious 2tone days, ska music had a political dimension that it seems to have lost since. Even if there are political statements in our music now – what used to be controversial 30 years ago, might be praying to the converted today.
But not so with The Ska Vengers from India. I don’t know about you, but when listening to them, I hear serious talk about political issues. I hear a band that wants to bring change with music. I hear the spirit of 2Tone in existence.
With their take on “Rudy, A Message to You” The Ska Vengers tie in with Indian elections and want to “warn Indians about voting for a right wing nationalist”, Narendra Modi.
A quote from the description to their video: “A nation in which journalistic and artistic freedom is curbed, women’s safety is treated as low priority, LGBT’s and other minority groups are further vilified, where people who do not conform to the BJP modus operandi are treated with contempt. These should be concerns for us all, BJP supporters included.”
Judging from reactions on the video, I suspect that the things The Ska Vengers are talking about are controversial in India and need to be said. Support through comments and sharing is very much appreciated.
Video Of The Year 2014?
The video to “Modi, A Message To You” is also on the Reggae Steady Ska playlist called “Video Of The Year 2014” where we collect all the official music videos from Ska Rocksteady Early Reggae artists. We do this, because we love a good music video and we want to give an overview of all the talent out there. At the end of the year there will also be “Video Of The Year 2014” votings on our website. If you have videos to add, just write a comment, shoot me an email at joachim@reggae-steady-ska.com, or (which would be the coolest thing) fill out the form for video submission that we set up. Also have a look at the playlist of videos from 2013 (in the sidebar). Lots of cool clips from all around the world. I bet you will discover something new.
More “Must-See Videos 2014”:
04: The Talks – Don’t Look Behind You
03: The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra – Bangarang
02: Pannonia Allstars Ska Orchestra – “Rum Sweet Rum”
01: The Slackers – “My Bed Is A Boat”
