Today (December 9th) the world lost a reggae legend. Robbie Shakespeare, born in 1953 in Kingston, took up bass after learning acoustic guitar. He was taught the instrument by the master Aston \u201cFamily Man\u201d Barrett, a legend from the Upsetters, Lee Scratch Perry<\/a>\u2019s great ensemble. He met Sly Dunbar in the mid-1970s, a period where Sly was playing the funk-inspired reggae rhythm \u201crockers\u201d in the band The Revolutionaries. It was love at first sight, and the two, renamed “Sly and Robbie” or ironically “Sly Drumbar and Robbie Basspeare”, had a string of successes on the island, playing with Culture, U Roy, Peter Tosh, the Wailers… They also joined the legendary Black Uhuru band, which enjoyed worldwide success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to the rhythmic alchemy they created, the duo also excelled as producers. With their label Taxi Records, they produced an estimated 200,000 songs. In the 90s, as dancehall overtook reggae, Robbie and Sly were able to ride the wave, producing No Doubt’s \u201cHey Baby\u201d, released in 2001 on the massive Rock Steady<\/em> album. <\/p>\n\n\n\n