The Slackers’ new self-titled LP is slammin’

Since their formation in 1991, The Slackers have been a quintessential band in the ever-growing genre-bending trend of mixing Jamaican styles with American flair. The band out of Brooklyn has toured around the world, boasting at least 100 shows per year since 1997 – the year they released their second full-length album Red Light off […]

Peni Dean “What Is Love” music video

Peni Dean, former lead vocalist of Hawaii’s own Natty Vibes, dropped a brand new music video this month off the EP What is Love. Dean and crew have been hitting the circuit hard and sharing the stage with bands such as Katchafire, Ooklah the Moc, Fortunate Youth, Maoli as well as securing a nice little […]

Raging Fyah performs at The Observatory

Raging Fyah from Kingston, Jamaica was in San Diego, California on March 10th, performing with Fortunate Youth and Stick Figure. Raging Fyah joined these bands for Stick Figure’s Set In Stone Tour, happening now and spreading across the entire nation. The six-piece band provided the U.S. with some roots reggae music. They played most of […]

Premiere: Sway Jah Vu “Happy Ever After”

Five piece Florida alt-reggae band Sway Jah Vu are gearing up to release a new EP titled In the Company of Wolves on March 29th, 2016. In advance of the release, Top Shelf Reggae is excited to bring you an exclusive first listen to a new track from the album, “Happy Ever After.” “You can […]

Dankrupt’s Dos Toros will grab you by the horns

Almost exactly one year ago, the Los Angeles County band Dankrupt released their debut EP titled Moonlight which had notes of Latin, funk, ska, hip hop as well as obvious hints from their influences Sublime, 311, Jack Johnson and Iration can all be heard distinctly.  the band sways harder on the rock side of their […]

Rebelution and Protoje at the Majestic Ventura Theater

The second half of Rebelution’s annual Winter Greens tour stopped in Ventura for two nights with special guest Protoje and his band The Indiggnation. They played the historic Majestic Ventura Theater, right off of Main Street, and sold out the venue two nights in a row. We were able to catch them on Sunday night […]

Getting to know Omari Banks

Omari Banks is a reggae artist from the Caribbean – specifically, the island of Anguilla. Known more for his athletic career as a professional cricket player, Omari is also the son of renowned artist, Bankie Banks. According to the bio page of his website, he first performed onstage with his father in Milan, Italy at […]

Field of Haze Festival announces final line-up

Festival season is finally upon us and like many reggae lovers, you probably have started to wonder which festivals are the most worthy of your attendance, dedication, and support this time around. Excitement is in the air, spring has officially sprung, and reggae music is calling you in all directions. You simply cannot attend all […]

Easy Star All-Stars Spring Tour 2016

Easy Star All-Stars had taken the task of covering one of the most recognized albums of all time and could have easily bitten off more than it can chew, but the execution of the 2003 Dubside of the Moon album was absolutely flawless. Easy Star All-Stars embraced the psychedelic nature of Pink Floyd, molded it […]

Album premiere: Natty Nation ‘Divine Spark’

The brand new album titled Divine Spark from Wisconsin based Natty Nation is a merging of styles; blending golden-era rock with funky reggae grooves, soul elements, and heavy guitar riffs. Natty Nation has developed a sound that is an audio representation of their deep spirituality. A match that sounds as good on the final product […]

Stick Figure’s ode to Cocoa the tour dog

The most lovable and affectionate tour dog to ever hit the stage now has his own five minutes of solid fame. Owner Scott Woodruff and lead singer of the band Stick Figure dedicates this new video to his best and most loyal companion, Cocoa. The song titled “Shadow” is off of Stick Figure’s latest installment […]

HIRIE with Arise Roots – San Diego, CA

Arise Roots Arise Roots Arise Roots HIRIE HIRIE HIRIE HIRIE HIRIE HIRIE HIRIE with Arise Roots HIRIE with Arise Roots HIRIE HIRIE graced the stage at a very special sold out hometown show on Friday February 26th 2016 with Los Angeles based band Arise Roots. Fans lined up outside the 710 Beach Club on a […]

Sitting down with Iya Terra

Iya Terra is a five-piece reggae, rock, and roots band from Los Angeles, California. They have recently been touring the west coast with bands such as Tribal Seeds, Inna Vision, Fortunate Youth, New Kingston, and many more and have been a part of numerous festivals in the last year like The Summer Meltdown, Reggae on […]

The art of Struggle from Roots of Creation

Roots of Creation (RoC) is a band based out of New Hampshire. With founding members, Brett Wilson, Tal Pearson (keys), and Mike Chadinha (drums), and newest members, Nick Minicucci (bass), Billy Kottage (of Reel Big Fish) and Andrew Riordan, the band has become a staple among the reggae-rock nation. Playing at such festivals as Wakarusa […]

Rising Tide “Seven Times Rise” music video

Featuring core members of the internationally acclaimed group Groundation, Rising Tide is composed of Marcus Urani (keys/producer), Ryan Newman (bass), Kim Pommel (vocals), Sherida Sharpe (vocals), Faith Waltson (vocals) as well as virtuoso New York based jazz-guitarist Yotam Silberstein and Bay Area heavy hitting drummer Paul Spina of Motherbug and Claypool’s Flying Frog Brigade. On […]