Scouring the web for blogs similar to the theme that I’m trying to pursue with my blog - interpretations of contemporary reggae music - proved to be a little difficult. Nearly all the blogs I came across that dealt with reggae music were either reviews of various albums or blogs that contained only embedded Youtube videos of songs. There were few blogs that had a unique voice, sharing his opinions with regards to reggae music as opposed to simply introducing songs and bands. However, one blog that caught my attention fused the writer’s life experiences with her love of reggae music and the humble Rasta culture.
Jeanie is the writer of Reggae Stories, a blog dedicated to the thoughts and experiences of the writer and her readers. In her “Greetings” post, Jeanie introduces herself as a stateside white girl whose roots are Noblesville, Indiana - surprising to most that she’d have a reggae blog page. It turns out that it wasn’t until she dropped out of college in 1980 and started dating a singer of a small local band that she started getting into reggae music. She fell in love with the song “Rivers of Babylon” by the Melodians, and would always plead her boyfriend to sing it. The relationship with this boyfriend ended, but her fondness for reggae music continued. For the next 28 years she saturated herself in reggae music and culture and even opened a Reggae shop on St. John in the Virgin Islands. Living in a shack on the island for a number of years with her partner, she raised their children and lived a humble life off the land, sea, and her small shop. Though she is not a Rasta, and does not claim to be, she states her purpose for the blog is to tell her stories and share her love for reggae music.
Reggae Stories doesn’t seem to be a very popular blog, though it is somewhat personal and intimate in nature, boasting a few followers. Many of her posts don’t have any comments, and the posts that do will only have one to three comments. Most of her posts are quite bare, including just an embedded video of a song or artist with a little bit of text that relates to it. For example, her post “Spragga Benz - ‘Livication,’” includes an embedded video of the song “Livication” by artist Spragga Benz followed by a short interpretation of the song. Her longer posts tend not to deal so much with reggae music but instead shares a bit of her memories and life story. “Blame Will Not Move You Toward Love” is a post in which Jeanie shares a heartfelt letter she wrote to someone close to her that was in jail, hoping that the letter might inspire anyone that may be going through rough times. She also includes a video in the post by artist Buju Banton entitled “Destiny” as a song that relates to the tone of her letter.
My blog will be similar to Jeanie’s in the sense that I will hopefully be able to introduce readers to some good reggae music that they haven’t heard before and inspire people to look at the real messages and values being communicated through this music. I also like that her blog shares personal insight to some of the artists and songs she shares, which what I’d definitely like to do in my blog. The memoir-like anecdotes that occupy Jeanie’s blog is another element I’d like to strive for with my blog, giving readers some background and personal stories to go along with the music. I’d like to differ my blog, though, by including a little more insight into the meanings and intentions of certain songs and artists, particularly with reference to their backgrounds and world views.
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