Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres.
[1] Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separately in Jamaica as professional musicians.
[3] 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[2] (both are 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.
And there are other drummers in Jamaica, like Santa and Carly from The Wailers Band, Winston Bennett, Paul Douglas, Mikey Boo.
[4]” 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.
On 1985 Sly and Robbie play drum and bass on album Scacchi e tarocchi by Francesco De Gregori[7] 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.
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.
They had a second UK top 40 hit in 1997, collaborating with Simply Red on a cover of Gregory Isaacs' "Night Nurse", reaching number 13.
Far from restricting themselves to the Jamaican scene, (in which they have played for virtually every prominent Jamaican musical artist from Beenie Man to Sean Paul to Peter Tosh, Black Uhuru, Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, Spanner Banner, Ini Kamoze and others), they have played with and produced artists such as Madonna, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, The Rolling Stones, Grace Jones, Joan Armatrading, Gilberto Gil, Joe Cocker, Matisyahu, Serge Gainsbourg, Simply Red, Michael Franti, Sting, Khaled, Mey Vidal, Tricky, Doug E. Fresh, Carlos Santana, Sinéad O'Connor, Monty Alexander, Ian Dury, and others.
in August 2006, they appeared with Don Carlos at the Reggae on the River festival, and in August 2007 they performed on a tour of the Western United States and Canada along with dancehall-soul singer and actress Cherine Anderson, including headlining Reggae Rising in Humboldt County and the Hollywood Bowl.
Sly and Robbie worked on Brazilian singer-songwriter Vanessa da Mata's third album Sim, bringing their own feel to several tracks.
Sly and Robbie toured Japan, Morocco (Mawazine festival) and Europe with McLean to showcase the album.