I Dont Want To Be No General Riddim – Various Producers

By 1980, reggae was deep into a roots-conscious stretch, and I Don’t Want To Be No General Riddim sits right in that mood with a militant title theme and a cast that runs from Dennis Brown and Gregory Isaacs to Bushman, Admiral Tibet, and Sizzla. The Dennis Brown cut is the centrepiece here, especially with the paired dub and vocal versions, while Gregory Isaacs’ “Tell Me Why” and Bushman’s “Don’t Want To Be No General” keep the message sharp and direct. It’s credited to various producers, but the sequencing feels deliberate: the same refrain comes back through different voices, then the set widens into prison talk, Zion praise, and warning tunes, as if the whole riddim is being tested from every angle before it closes on the harder-edged later cuts.