Not only do they play the drum and bass on numerous Reggae albums with such a skill that everyone now knows them as the Rhythm Twins, they are equally responsible for producing some of the most progressive and innovative Reggae ever.

Let's go back in time, to the early 1980's.

On their Taxi Label, Sly and Robbie found themselves in a position where they were able to combine all their talents. Playing the foundation, and producing the music too. The timeless self-titled mini LP by InI Kamoze, for example, remains to be one of the all time favorites of the webmaster of this website. 

Another one on that list is The Dub Factor, mixed by Paul Groucho Smykle and credited to Black Uhuru. The album contained DUB mixes from -among others- Black Uhuru's earlier release "Red".

Black Uhuru is the name of a vocal trio. The group had different members during the decades of it's existence, but the period with Mykal Rose, Puma Jones and Duckie Simpson is widely considered to be the most fruitful. Thanks to the essential importance of the Rhythm Twins' productional and musical influence, that is. Sly and Robbie  were of essential importance for Black Uhuru's world wide success in that time. 

In an interview with Carter Van Pelt, Sly Dunbar talks about it:

"If you listen to the drumming in Black Uhuru, and if you go back and listen to some of the reggae [of the period], it's not the same thing -- it's different," says Dunbar. "I'm playing R&B or a heavy metal pattern kind of drumming. I wasn't playing the one drop. So what I did to the drum was give it more power . . . really open the snare and really bang on it, so this is where the whole 'cutting edge' come from . . . That's what helped it to break [internationally] faster, cause people could really relate to the beat when they heard it." (SOURCE)

"Red" comes from this period. And just like Sly Dunbar says, it's truly different then most Reggae music from that time. 

The music is sharp like a razor. The drumming is hard, the bass is solid. Guitar licks and complex rhythmical structures create a vibe of a controlled militancy. 

You hear it in the music, and you hear it in the lyrics too. 

Mykal Rose, Puma Jones and Duckie Simpson sing -mostly- conscious lyrics straight from the heart. This sound blends together with the music, and creates an atmosphere which appeals to several generations in a row.