Check our latest Dub Reports

04 July, 2024

Beldub's Bubbling Festival Guide 2024

The festival season is in full swing again. The vibes took off last weekend at Couleur Café! Read all about it in our report which will soon be online. As we’re writing this, the BelDUB crew is on the road to Zion Station in Portomaggiore, Italy. Hi ...more

19 March, 2024

R.I.P. Metro Downbeat

Amplifiers. Valve, transistor, digital. Lightweight or heavyweight; literally or figuratively. The heart of the sound system. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, the valve amplifier was thé key element of a good sound with good sounding bass frequencies. Up ...more

04 March, 2024

BelDUB Interview with Bonjo from African Head Charge at Viernulvier, Ghent

Saturday the 24th of Februari 2024, all roads led to Ghent for an amazing edition of the Dub-Up Live sessions (and not DUP UP, as this editor misspelled in the video title 🤦‍♂️). Maximum respect to the organization, Dub Up and Democrazy. After week ...more

21 February, 2024

Remembering Aston “Family Man” Barrett (1946-2024)

Many of us European reggae- and dub heads grew up with and first got in touch with this culture through the already timeless music of Bob Marley & The Wailers. The Wailers band needs to be emphasized in this, because without his faithful and talented ...more

09 December, 2023

R.I.P. Benjamin Zephaniah: A Revolutionary Mind

Last Thursday came with tidings of bad news: the loss of Benjamin Zephaniah. The world has lost a multi-talented artist, with an inexhaustible energy to change it. Author, dub-poet, MC, playwright, actor, professor, husband, activist… There are few ...more

06 November, 2023

Interview with the SupaWax crew (Jahctivation, Mostec, Culture B) at Dub Unit # 5

Home is where the heart is, and Dub Unit at Het Depot Leuven - probably one of the most succesful regular dub nights atm- always feels like home. Dub Unit's fifth edition before the summer brought the Supa Wax crew to Leuven. Supa Wax is a fresh n ...more

17 October, 2023

Interview with Roots Hitek at Dub Unit, Leuven

This one has been waiting on the shelves for a while. In december 2022, Roots Hitek played a set at another ram jammed edition of Dub Unit at Het Depot in Leuven. Come in Roots Hitek with two vocalists Princess Lynn and Diamond Asher, and some of h ...more

12 October, 2023

Tribute to Allan Rolle, aka Jah Youth, the Roots Ambassador.

Video by Andreas Peeters & Gieljan Van Goethem • Audio by Toon Geeraerts It is a sad time for the soundsystem community. It seems like the rightful leader and originator of this beautiful culture, Jah Shaka, has only just left us, but ...more

12 October, 2023

Interview with Prince Livijah @ Dub-Up Session 2023, Ghent

Prince Livijah’s parents emigrated from the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent to the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. They settled in High Wycombe, just outside London, where Livijah was born, grew up and is still living. As a teenager in the ear ...more

05 October, 2023

Interview with Imperial Sound Army crew at Zion Station Festival 2023

Zion Station Festival in Italy is certainly in our top 3 of reggae festivals we attended in the last years. Every year in the first weeks of July, the village of Portomaggiore becomes a little place of heaven. It's small, no big crowds, in the middle ...more

27 September, 2023

Interview with Vivian Jones and Al Campbell at Zion Station 2023

One of our personal highlights of this summer was Zion Station Festival in Portomaggiore, Italy. Vivian Jones and Martin Campbell were on the line-up, but Martin Campbell cancelled. So the organisation quickly found a substitute, none other than Al ...more

15 August, 2023

Interview with Gussie P at Wadada Festival 2023

Final interview from Wadada Festival 2023. We had a quick chat with Mr. Dubcup aka **Gussie P**, legendary producer and owner of the **Sip-A-Cup** label. Interview: Dries Talloen & Andreas Peeters Camera: Andreas Peeters & Seppe Dumon ...more

19 July, 2023

BelDUB Studio Visits: Joyful Tears Studio (Wingene, BE)

Jarne Thorrez aka Sir Tao has been a musical brother for years. He’s one of those few people in Belgium with a vast knowledge of reggae music in many different aspects of the given; someone with whom I love to hold musical reasonings that can last fo ...more

06 July, 2023

BelDUB's 2023 summer preview: a bubbling festival guide

Summer is here and so is the festival season! We at BelDUB headquarters wanted to give you a small guide of where to go as a soundsystem head during the Summer of 2023, both inside and outside of Belgium. In and outernational! Just scroll down to rea ...more

03 July, 2023

Digidub galore at Couleur Café's Dub Stage

As usual, **Couleur Cafe** Festival kicked off the Belgian festival season inna fine style. Known for its diverse music programming, the festival is a go-to for the open-minded music lover with a heart for music from all over this wonderful globe we ...more

03 July, 2023

Interview with Ras Muffet at Wadada Festival 2023

**Ras Muffet** has been a strong name for years with his Bristol-based **Roots Injection Sound System**. He was born to Jamaican parents in Bristol in the late 1950s and moved to Catford in Southeast London at the age of twelve, where he followed his ...more

22 June, 2023

BelDUB Interview with Missing Link and Rudy Roots at Dub Unit, the Belgian edition

Friday the 3rd of February was a memorable edition of Dub Unit, the succes story written in I-nity by Kingstep Soundsystem and Leuven's best venue, Het Depot. For the special occasion of the Week of Belgian Music, Het Depot asked Kingstep to make an ...more

22 June, 2023

Interview with Chalice Soundsystem at Wadada Festival 2023

Chalice Sound System are pioneers. In France in general, and in their hometown Lille in particular. The sound was founded around 1995, being at the time based in a self-made community centre where they held and hosted all kinds of cultural acitivitie ...more

29 May, 2023

Interview with Wise Rockers at Dub It Forward

The 13th of May, Belgian promotors Greenforward (probably the most original event promotors in this little country since a long time) organised the 4th edition of DUB IT FORWARD. Initially they invited the French producer duo Hitman & Fizza, but sadl ...more

17 January, 2023

Interview with Mackey Banton and Professor Natty at Jah Tubby's 50th Anniversary

After the memorable session on Dub Camp 2022, where Jah Tubby's played on the Youth & Truth stack (manufactured by Stakx Sound Solutions) , Youth & Truth decided to try repeat this succes. Jah Tubby's crew feat. Prof. Natty and Macky Banton came roun ...more

17 January, 2023

Interview with Scientist Sound at the 2nd edition of Dub Unit, Het Depot Leuven

Dub Unit at 7/10/22 was a night to remember. You rarely get the opportunity to see two sounds from Birmingham (or Burningstrong, as the locals call it) in one night. We had a chat with the original Scientist crew: Roy P, Nicky Dread, Robbo Dread, Gor ...more

17 January, 2023

Interview with Lady Reemshot at the 2nd edition of Dub Unit at Het Depot, Leuven

The big surprise of Dub Unit's 2nd edition was the strong lady doing the warmup, holding her ground with her 28 years next to veterans in the scene for 50 years. Time to introduce you to Lady Reemshot, a young selector de Lille bringing a new message ...more

17 January, 2023

Interview with Hytal Bosrah Soundsystem at the 2nd edition of Dub Unit

The Dub Unit events at Het Depot, Leuven, set a reputation in the Belgian dub scene to reckon with. Organisers Kingstep Soundsystem have a strong link with the UK Birmingham dub scene, booking sounds like Scientist and Hytal Bosrah. We had a chat wit ...more

17 January, 2023

Interview with Joseph Lalibela at Zion Station, Bologna

Throwback to July 2022, when we spoke with big UK singer Joseph Lalibela before his set with Vibronics at Zion Station. The man told us about his younger days as a youth in Birmingham (Birmingstrong, as the locals call it) and about his current proje ...more

17 January, 2023

Interview with King Alpha (UK) and Fikir Amlak (USA) at Step It Up! #1

Whoa, this one has been on our shelves for way too long. Almost one year ago since man like Fikir Amlak came to Belgium for a small tour. Highlight of that tour definitely was his session with King Alpha on Bloodhound Soundsystem. We had a talk wit ...more

17 January, 2023

Interview with Jahmbassador and Marijah at Wadada Festival

Ever since the notorious selector Kaya exchanged the Ionyouth crew for his own project, he has been a force in the roots scene to reckon with. Over the years, Jahmbassador Hi-Fi (founded in 2008 by Kaya and Fayaman) built a strong reputation for its ...more

17 January, 2023

Interview with Keety Roots at Wadada Festival, Geel.

Wadada is a fresh reggae soundsystem festival in the city of Geel. With more than 800 visitors, it has quickly become one of Belgium's biggest dub gatherings. The BelDUB crew could finally make it there and had a good talk with UK dubbist Keety Root ...more

17 January, 2023

Interview with Reuben Gondor, Black Omolo and Sanga Mama Africa at Dub Unit.

17/4/22 was a day filled with delicious dub delicacies, and the BelDUB crew was there to capture them for you. Part 2 of our report: after the Sunday Skanking at JH Sojo we moved to Het Depot in Leuven for the first edition of DUB UNIT. Kingstep Soun ...more

20 December, 2022

Interview with Mark Iration and Dego Ranking

The boys from Equality Soundsystem invited Iration Steppas at Muziekodroom Hasselt, for what turned out to be an epic session. Mark Iration longside Dego Ranking, both in top form. They rocked Equality's speakers like no one did before. The BelDUB ...more