Episode this artist appeared in
Brief History
The Aggrolites are an amalgamation of two previous Los Angeles reggae and ska bands,. They formed in 2002 as a live backing band for reggae icon Derrick Morgan, and were asked to record music for a new Morgan album. The project was never released, but the recording sessions inspired the Aggrolites to become a permanent band.
Aggrolites organist Roger Rivas has stated that a combination of the sounds of 1960s soul music, funk, and skinhead reggae (also known simply as early reggae) constitutes what the band has dubbed "Dirty Reggae." The Aggrolites formed in 2002, originally getting together as the backing band for a one-off Los Angeles show backing Jamaican music legend . Gathering members from two minor Southern California reggae acts, the Vessels and the Rhythm Doctors. The concert was a success, and the band stuck together to record an album with Morgan that was never completed.
Despite the recording setback, the band took the name the Aggrolites ("aggro" being a slang term of the ska-loving skinhead subculture of Britain in the 1960s and '70s, meaning pent-up aggression, and "lites" in tribute to the greatest ska band of all time, ) and became the go-to guys on the West Coast ska and reggae circuit.