Sly and Robbie

Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separately in Jamaica as professional musicians. They recorded several albums under the Sly and Robbie name, and made hundreds of appearances on records by other performers.

Shakespeare died in December 2021 following kidney surgery, and Dunbar on 26 January 2026.

Sly Dunbar, then drumming for Skin Flesh and Bones, and Robbie Shakespeare, playing bass and guitar with the Aggrovators, discovered they had the same ideas about music in general (both were fans of Motown, Stax Records, the Philly Sound, and country music, in addition to Jamaican record labels Studio One and Treasure Isle), and reggae production in particular. Speaking on his influences, Sly explained “My mentor was the drummer for The Skatalites, Lloyd Knibb. And I used to listen a lot to the drummer for Booker T. & the M.G.'s, Al Jackson Jr., and a lot of Philadelphia. And there are other drummers in Jamaica, like Santa and Carly from The Wailers Band, Winston Bennett, Paul Douglas, Mikey Boo. I respect all these drummers and have learnt a lot from them. From them, I listened and created my own style. They played some things I copied, other things I recreated." Sly and Robbie first worked together with The Revolutionaries for the newly created Channel One studio and label, operated by the Hoo Kim brothers.

According to The Independent, their breakthrough album was The Mighty Diamonds' 1976 release Right Time, which helped to establish them as the "masters of groove and propulsion." The drum beat on the title song was particularly tricky; in 2001 Dunbar recalled, "When that tune first come out, because of that double tap on the rim nobody believe it was me on the drums, they thought it was some sort of sound effect we was using. Then when it go to number 1 and stay there, everybody started trying for that style and it soon become establish."

In 1976, they introduced a harder beat called "Rockers", which quickly replaced the then-prevalent "One Drop" style, then introduced the "Rub a Dub" sound in the early 1980s. Sly and Robbie were important in developing the trend towards computer-assisted music and programming in the mid-1980s. Chris Blackwell made them the core of the Compass Point All Stars, the Nassau recording band based at Compass Point Studios that was to produce classic records for Grace Jones, Joe Cocker and Gwen Guthrie among many others.

In 1985, Sly and Robbie performed on the album Scacchi e tarocchi by Francesco De Gregori.

Their 1987 funk and dance album Rhythm Killers was produced by Bill Laswell with an ensemble of musicians and showcased the duo's branching outside of the reggae market and experimenting with electronic sounds. It also produced a number 12 hit on the UK Singles Chart in 1987 with "Boops (Here to Go)" which Robbie Williams later sampled for his single "Rudebox".

In the early 1990s, Sly and Robbie introduced a novel sound with the hits "Bam Bam" and "Murder She Wrote" by Chaka Demus & Pliers. Chaka Demus' rough DJ vocals were matched with Pliers' sweet, melodic, soul-influenced singing; this unusual vocal pairing was championed by Sly and Robbie. This formula has since been used with success by the likes of Shaggy (who teamed up with singers Rayvon and Rik Rok), Shabba Ranks, Maxi Priest and others. This predates the trend in some rap music where a song's "hook" or chorus is sung by a guest, while the verses are rapped.