Different philosophical attitudes result in different approaches. Those who have witnessed Shaka and Coxsone in dub conference will know that in following Shaka’s distorted swirling dubonics and sheer physical weight, Coxsone will operate one piece of amp less and maintain a sharpness and a clarity, a kind of "round beat" and initially let the music do the work, before Poppa Festus – the Coxsone Hi-Fl controller– puts on the pressure, injecting tension into the rhythm and building the climax into the dub cuts.
Playing reggae and presenting reggae are two different things, and to Coxsone playing a dance means more than catering for the militant steppers who mainline warrior rhythms.