Masterpiece: Two Sevens Clash

[Today: An upbeat vision of the end of the world...]

In the mid-1970’s Kingston, Jamaica was a sea of poverty, awash in violence and grief. The sound of gunshots was a constant refrain throughout the ghettos, and a sense of hopelessness hung in the air while blood and sewage flowed openly in the streets. Some of that squalor was captured in the movie The Harder They Come, and the participants in the film were subject to the same random violence as anyone else passing through that part of the world. In fact, the crew was chased from locations by armed men on more than one occasion.

Against this backdrop, it’s easy to see the idea of an apocalyptic day of judgment not as a fiery end, but instead as a welcome rebirth - a time when injustices would be redressed and the ruled would rise up against their rulers. And make no mistake, armageddon lines every single happy groove of Two Sevens Clash. Culture lead singer Joseph Hill buoyantly sings “I’m not ashamed, I’m not ashamed/I’m not ashamed to hold Jah Jah/Not in any crowd” like a man who’s pleased and prepared to meet his maker.

Taking his cue from a prophecy of the great Marcus Garvey, Hill had a vision that the end of the world would occur in 1977. He wrote a song detailing his prediction, and that song - the title track of this album - became a major hit in Jamaica. So much so, in fact, that on July 7th, 1977 (the “day the four sevens clashed”) the entire city of Kingston came to a complete standstill, as people stayed inside rather that risk the apocalyptic wrath of Jah Rastafari.

So for one day, peace ruled, and the streets were quiet, but soon enough the cycle of violence returned to Kingston. The murder rate in the Jamaican capital has been on a steady rise ever since, and in 2005 the city reported 1,600 killings, or nearly five people each day. For this, Kingston won the dreaded sash for Murder Capital Of The World. And thus Two Sevens Clash remains as unfortunately topical as ever - an album of hope that’s set against utter misery, with one fist raised jubilantly to the sky, daring Jah to bring it.

Listen: Two Sevens Clash

Tags: Culture, debut album, Marcus Garvey, Masterpiece, reggae, Two Sevens Clash