It is hard to notice from afar, but the moment you are there, in the sound and mix of the streets, the clubs, the pubs, and the parties, you realize that the aesthetics of reggae music, or more precisely, the aesthetics of dub music, are completely integrated into the British urban experience. In fact, the condition of modern Britain is the condition of dub music. The best example of dub's impact on British sensibilities, however, is to be found in British triphop, which is really hiphop high on dub.
Dub is to be the base from which every track is launched into the thin atmosphere.
This commitment to authentic dub makes Big World Small World more natural or honest than other recent and distant triphop efforts. I think it was Eric Fredericksen who once complained that Massive Attack's last album, Mezzanine , was so elegant, so ethereal, that it seemed more appropriate for hair salons than for bars or parties or even one's own messy living room. Well, Smith and Mighty do not make music for hair salons.