# The 8 Best Dub Tracks of All Time Jamaican engineers in the early seventies discover that the mixing desk is an instrument. Vocals drop out, the drum and bass are pushed to the front, and reverb becomes the room the record is played in. - **Origin:** Kingston, Jamaica, 1973 - **Tempo:** 65–95 BPM - **Also known as:** dub reggae, jamaican dub, version - **Tracks:** 8 - **Updated:** 2026-08-29 - **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/genre/dub/ ## The list ### 1. [Augustus Pablo](https://waxonia.com/artist/augustus-pablo/) — [King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown](https://waxonia.com/track/augustus-pablo--king-tubby-meets-rockers-uptown/) *1976 · Yard Music* The record everyone means by dub. Pablo's melodica floats over a Jacob Miller rhythm that King Tubby keeps dismantling and rebuilding, and the space between the parts carries more weight than the parts do. Also on: [1976](https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-seventy-six/), [Roots](https://waxonia.com/theme/the-desk-roots/), [The Waxonia Desk — Ghosts](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-ghosts/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Augustus%20Pablo%20King%20Tubby%20Meets%20Rockers%20Uptown) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=oxAl3Jijs20) ### 2. [The Upsetters](https://waxonia.com/artist/the-upsetters/) — [Black Panta](https://waxonia.com/track/the-upsetters--black-panta/) *1973 · Upsetter* From Blackboard Jungle Dub, the album usually credited as the first of its kind. Lee Perry treats the multitrack as raw material rather than as a finished thing, and the result still sounds unfinished on purpose. [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/The%20Upsetters%20Black%20Panta) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=de5J2az4V1A) ### 3. [Keith Hudson](https://waxonia.com/artist/keith-hudson/) — [Pick a Dub](https://waxonia.com/track/keith-hudson--pick-a-dub/) *1974 · Atra* The first album conceived as a dub record from the start rather than assembled from leftovers. Hudson's low end is drier and heavier than his contemporaries', and it is the version a bass player would choose. [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Keith%20Hudson%20Pick%20a%20Dub) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=mi26OuAXC3E) ### 4. [The Upsetters](https://waxonia.com/artist/the-upsetters/) — [Super Ape](https://waxonia.com/track/the-upsetters--super-ape/) *1976 · Island* Perry at the Black Ark with every effect running at once, and somehow the murk is legible. The best argument that dub was psychedelia made by people with far better rhythm sections. Also on: [1976](https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-seventy-six/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/The%20Upsetters%20Super%20Ape) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=MTOomS0HfdA) ### 5. [The Revolutionaries](https://waxonia.com/artist/the-revolutionaries/) — [Kunta Kinte Dub](https://waxonia.com/track/the-revolutionaries--kunta-kinte-dub/) *1976 · Well Charge* Channel One's house band, produced by Jo Jo Hookim and circulating first as a dubplate. Rebel MC cut it into a jungle record fifteen years later, and the riddim became a founding sound of British bass music without ever leaving Kingston. Also on: [1976](https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-seventy-six/), [Bass Weight](https://waxonia.com/theme/the-desk-bass-weight/), [The Waxonia Desk — Ghosts](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-ghosts/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/The%20Revolutionaries%20Kunta%20Kinte%20Dub) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=K6XDIje4vJU) ### 6. [Burning Spear](https://waxonia.com/artist/burning-spear/) — [The Ghost](https://waxonia.com/track/burning-spear--the-ghost/) *1976 · Island* The dub of Marcus Garvey, and a rare case of the version outranking a genuinely great vocal. Removing Winston Rodney's voice leaves the horns hanging in a space that feels haunted rather than empty. [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Burning%20Spear%20The%20Ghost) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=WRztaynAYkg) ### 7. [Scientist](https://waxonia.com/artist/scientist/) — [Dance of the Vampires](https://waxonia.com/track/scientist--dance-of-the-vampires/) *1981 · Greensleeves* Tubby's protege turns dub into pure comic-book fun without softening the engineering. The delay throws are timed like punchlines, and the record is funnier and heavier than that description suggests. [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Scientist%20Dance%20of%20the%20Vampires) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=mswVkpgX8EU) ### 8. [Wayne Smith](https://waxonia.com/artist/wayne-smith/) — [Under Me Sleng Teng](https://waxonia.com/track/wayne-smith--under-me-sleng-teng/) *1985 · Jammy's* Not dub but its consequence: a preset from a Casio keyboard becomes a rhythm hundreds of records are built on. The moment Jamaican music goes fully digital, and the template for every riddim-and-version scene since. Also on: [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Wayne%20Smith%20Under%20Me%20Sleng%20Teng) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=H_STPoI_eoM) --- Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.