Cambodia isn’t a country where you would expect to hear roots reggae and Jamaican bass, but that’s exactly how WAT A GWAAN, a collective of reggae DJ’s, Producers, Mc’s and VJ’s, found its niche in Phnom Penh in 2013. Born from a love of Jamaican music and culture, and mixed with Asian flavor, the collective seeks to support and promote regional artists and productions of reggae, roots, dub, and bass music, inviting others into the REGGAE WAT (Khmer word for “Temple”).
& Of Other Things invited Kaztet Dee—MC, selecta, “sound activist”, and co-founder of WAT A GWAAN—to give us the lowdown on a few selections currently flowing through the Cambodian music scene.
Artist: Vibratone
Track: Phnom Penh Reggae
Place: Phnom Penh
First up we have Vibratone, a 6-piece roots reggae band based in Phnom Penh that started in 2012. All their songs are original, and this is one of my favorites.
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Artist: Dub Addiction
Track: So Pea Set
Place: Phnom Penh
Another band from the capital is Dub Addiction, coining themselves as “Cambodia’s first and only Khmer raggamuffin dub band.” Coming out with original reggae tunes with Khmer, African and German MCs, and releasing music on Hong Kong’s Metal Postcard Record label, this band has already started gaining international followings. This is a really cool track with an awesome video to match.
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Artist: Srey Leak feat Prof Kinski (Dub Addiction)
Track: Pel Ro Leum Srech Srech
Place: Phnom Penh
Klap Ya Handz was the first hip hop crew in Cambodia. They produced mostly underground music for about a decade until a couple of tracks and a movie made them very big here (especially the founder, Khmer Sok Visal). I’ve picked a track by Srey Leak featuring Prof Kinski (from Dub Addiction), which was produced by Klap Ya Handz. It’s a big hit in Cambodia!
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Artist: Srey Leak Feat Khmer1jivit
Track: Snaeha Khong Pel Reatry
Place: Phnom Penh
This is another favorite in this country, also produced by Klap Ya Handz, by Srey Leak featuring Khmer1jivit (say it as KhmerMuoijivit) – Snaeha Khong Pel Reatry. It was part of the soundtrack for the popular action-comedy film Kroab Pich that came out last year.
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Artist: INDRADEVI (feat Sophea Pel)
Track: Step Away
Place: Los Angeles, California
And lastly, INDRADEVI is an electro/drum’n’bass band based in L.A, but who have taken influence from South East Asian sounds. Since gigging in Cambodia, they’ve become popular here.
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CAMA’s Eliza Lomas is on a mission to find a huge array of great Asian music, digging through different times, countries and genres, with a regular monthly selection.
For information on CAMA events visit www.cama-atk.com
