Founded in 2002 Babylon Down is SLC's premier reggae dancehall sound system. Babylon Down is dedicated to promote reggae/ dancehall sound system culture here in Salt Lake City. Playing a mix of oldest and newest reggae/dancehall hits and gems flavored up by the chat of an MC, we bring boombastic vibes to the capital city of Utah.
Babylon Down started with Rebel moving to Salt Lake City and bringing his reggae and dancehall 45's and L.P.'s along wanting to share his love for reggae music with the Utah massive. He met Jared from Lion Dub Station, who also played keys for Afro Omega, at his record store that he was running then. Jared invited him to play an opening spot for his band Afro Omega and from then on the turntables started turning more and more. Bands like Afro Omega, The Body invited Rebel to come play with them, the crowds liked what they were hearing and started inviting Rebel to come play at private parties. After a year or so Rebel was invited by Tasha the booking manager at Monk's to come host a reggae night at her club, so he started hosting Reggae Lounge Mondays on alternate Mondays. DJ Matty L joined and took over the alternate Mondays. The night started with few people but was growing steadily every week. The music was solid, the vibes were nice and more and more people started showing up every week.
Around that time Tallman helped with his web knowledge to create Babylon Down. Bronte from Afro Omega linked Rebel with the people from Club Suede and got to open up the show for Julian Marley, his first time playing for a crowd of more than 500 reggae fans. His set was well received by the patrons and was invited to be the resident DJ for all of Club Suede's reggae shows. DJ Matty L moved out of state and Rebel started playing every Monday. Soon after Ragga P from St. Anne Jamaica, joined and started to MC along side Rebel. Together they performed at Monk's every Monday, numerous reggae events, clubs, bars and private parties as Babylon Down. Rebel's tunes and Ragga P's MC'ing had the dance floors packed.
Reggae Lounge was by then established as Salt Lake City's reggae night attracting 200 plus patrons every Monday. Babylon Down started to feature local, out of state and international acts on their resident night. By then Tallman got bitten by the selecta virus and started playing the early sessions where ever Babylon Down would play. Ragga P moved to Miami to be closer to his family. Rebel and Tallman kept the sound playing and were soon joined by Ras Otis, a Reggae Lounge patron who stepped up and started to rock the mic. Tallman, Ras Otis and Rebel have been playing the sound ever since up to this day. They've since then also cut a small amount of dub plates with legendary reggae artists to introduce their sound to the Salt Lake City massive and beyond. In April 2008, Babylon Down hosted the Utah Dancehall Queen contest for the very first time ever.
Early 2009 "Reggae Lounge" closed shop and marked the end of an era for Salt Lake City's Reggae Dancehall scene. Since then Babylon Down has promoted shows for Yami Bolo, Mad Professor & Macka B, played at numerous venues around town and found a new home for the new Residency night, "Catch A Vibe Mondays" at Bar Deluxe. The new residency at Bar Deluxe kicked of in December 2009 and has since then hosted a variety of shows. The Mighty Diamonds, Mystic Roots, local guest DJ's joining Babylon Down for the weekly sessions and sound clashes. In February 2010 Salt Lake City's first 45 Cup Clash was hosted, four local selectas battled for the "Babylon Down 45 Cup". In April 2010 Babylon Down, faced of against Selecta Eazy B from Los Angeles in the Inter City Sound Clash and came out as the winner.
BIG UP & GIVE THANKS:
Kim, Ragga P, Afro Omega crew, The Body crew, DJ LC Dub, DJ Matty L, Roots Rawka, DJ Knuckelz, Tasha, Monk's staff and management, DJ Wicket, Wailing Wailer, DJ Juggy, Robert Nelson, DJ Illoom, Winston Watson, all artists we've worked with and all Utah massive & crew.
Kim, Ragga P, Afro Omega crew, The Body crew, DJ LC Dub, DJ Matty L, Roots Rawka, DJ Knuckelz, Tasha, Monk's staff and management, DJ Wicket, Wailing Wailer, DJ Juggy, Robert Nelson, DJ Illoom, Winston Watson, all artists we've worked with and all Utah massive & crew.
Empress, DJ Lioness, Rudegal, Tree House Massive, Soul Medic, Da Verse, Natural Roots, Lion Dub Station, Ras Benji, D Strong, Dub Scouts, all artists feeding us the music, all dj's/ sound sytems for spreading the music and all massive world wide.
BABYLON DOWN INVITED ARTISTS & BANDS:
Andrew Diamond
ARTISTS & BANDS BABYLON DOWN HAS OPENED UP FOR:
Alborosie (SLC)