As Shakespeare noted, a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet. So it doesn‘t matter if this Rose calls himself Michael “Grammy” Rose (he won the 1985 award for reggae with Black Uhuru), Mykal Rose, or Mikal Roze; this veteran remains in fine form, confidently displayed on African Dub. Singing takes a backseat here, although bits of Rose‘s prophetic lyrics create stylistic ballast for many instrumental highlights. The performer line-up here would floor any serious reggae student: Dean Fraser, sax; Earl “Chinna” Smith, guitar; Style Scott and Sly Dunbar, drums; and Norman “Twinkle” Grant, percussion, to name a few. These are Jamaica‘s architects of dub-they know precisely what and how to play to create the spatial dynamics, echo gaps, and low frequency that make reggae the original “head” music. Add to this Rose‘s undiminished vocal talent, and the board work of Canadian-inna-Netherlands engineer Ryan Moore, and you get a truly dread affair.