A Sound clash is a musical competition where crew members from opposing reggae sound systems pit their skills against each other. Sound clashes take place in a variety of venues, both indoors and outdoors. Primarily featuring reggae

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

 (or dancehall

Dancehall

Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...

) music, the object is to beat or "kill" their competitors.

In Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

, sound clashes with their "violently martial ethos" date back at least to the 1950s, when systems like Tom the Great Sebastian

Tom the Great Sebastian

Tom the Great Sebastian was an early Jamaican sound system started by Tom Wong in 1950, named for a trapeze performer in Barnum and Bailey's circus. The group has been called "the all-time giant of sound systems" and helped launch several notable artists. Count Matchuki is generally credited as...

 and Duke Reid's the Trojan

Duke Reid

Treasure Isle re-directs here. For the game, see Treasure Isle .Arthur "Duke" Reid, CD was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and label owner....

 clashed in the old Back-O-Wall neighborhood of Kingston (now Tivoli Gardens, Kingston

Tivoli Gardens, Kingston

Tivoli Gardens, the political Garrison, is a West Kingston neighbourhood in Kingston, Jamaica. Tivoli Gardens has been the scene of confrontation between gunmen and security forces in 1997, 2001, 2005, 2008 and during the 2010 Kingston unrest. It is home to the alleged drug 'Don' Christopher Coke...

). Sometimes these clashes were violent, with one system destroying the other system's equipment. The first reported clash was between Tom the Great Sebastian and Count Nick in 1952.

Sound clashes are an integral part of black culture in London as portrayed in the cult movie Babylon

Babylon (film)

Babylon is a 1980 film that depicts the struggles of a Black British working class musician. It stars Brinsley Forde of the reggae band, Aswad. It was co-written by Martin Stellman and Franco Rosso who also directed it. It also starred Karl Howman and Trevor Laird...

, at the same time that real-life sound systems such as Jah Shaka

Jah Shaka

Jah Shaka has been operating a South East London-based, roots reggae Jamaican sound system since the early 1970s. His name is an amalgamation of the Rastafarian term for God and that of a Zulu warrior, Shaka Zulu.-Career:...

 and Ital Lion were competing for supremacy in Deptford

Deptford

Deptford is a district of south London, England, located on the south bank of the River Thames. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne, and from the mid 16th century to the late 19th was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Navy Dockyards.Deptford and the docks are...

 which is in The London Borough of Lewisham

Lewisham

Lewisham is a district in South London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...

 a traditional West-Indian area of South London

South London

South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...

.

Characteristics

In the early days of sound clashes, in Jamaican dancehall culture, sound systems would bring their own sound equipment--heavy bass sounds (that can be heard miles away) are especially important. A strong selection of contemporary, popular dubs

Dub music

Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...

is necessary also; sometimes sound systems paid artists for the exclusive use of dubs.

Rules

Usually the Sound systems in the sound clash will play for a set time, perhaps 30 minutes before switching. This time interval gets shorter and shorter, so when playing returns to one sound again, they may only play a shorter time. Near the end of the clash they go song on song or "Dub fi dub."