Jazzie B in 1985 and 1990

Soul II Soul was a sound system that became a Grammy-winning soul act. It's main man Jazzie B represents a generation of DJs who broke away from their Caribbean roots, rejecting the reggae-only militancy of their older brothers in favour of a swirling musical melting pot, helping to define black Britishness along the way.

You’re from a big family aren’t you?
Yeah, huge.

Where do you fit?
I’m the last boy. Got a younger sister but I’m the youngest male feature of the family. Yeah five big brothers. All of them in one shape or form sound system owners, and the next brother to me he now looks after the rig, which is humungous now. He rents out the systems all over. we’ve got a rig in the Caribbean as well as a huge rig here. That goes out most weeks. And he runs a couple of clubs and stuff like that.

So you were born into it.
My eldest brother Johnson, he played on a sound system during the 60s and my other brother during the 70s, then my other two during the late 70s into the early 80s, and then my other brother ’ain’t into it that much.

And were they playing ska, rocksteady, reggae.
It would have been from the time of rocksteady to what was known politely as rockers. El Rico was a rocker sound. More a kind of Derek Harriet, Jamaican lovers rock sound. They turned into a roots sound later on called Tipper Toe. I learnt a lot from being around those guys: carrying the boxes, being pinched in the back of the Transit, surfing on the top of the gear, and that’s how I got into a deeper shade of the whole music business.

This all inspired what would eventually be Soul II Soul
All these sounds were community sound systems, no-one transcended their local area, which is what inspired me to make my sound the biggest in the world. That was my premise of doing everything I did. And playing my sound in Jamaica was the biggest thing I ever did. And that was it. So I kind of lived the dream... and scored at Wembley as well. Twice. Last Night a DJ Saved My Life, yeah.

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Interviewed by Bill Brewster & Frank Broughton in London, 2.2.05