explainer | general justice
Three Gates Media
1
General Justice has quite an exotic ancestry. He is descended on his mother’s side from the Sephardic Jews who over many generations moved through Egypt, Libya, Algeria and Morocco before heading to Spain. His Dad’s grandfather came from Russia to Scotland and married into the McBride Clan.
2
General mentioned there has a King in Afghanistan at the time he travelled through. But it was nearing the end of an era. The last King of Afghanistan, Mohammad Zahir Shah reigned from 1933, when his father was assassinated until he formally abdicated in 1973 after a bloodless coup. He died in 2007 aged 92.
3
General’s original DJ name was simply the General, when he began on Vershun Galore ( now Jamdown Vershun) on 6UVSFM (now RTRFM). It was in Jamaica in 1984, that The General became General Justice after esteemed Rastafari elder Mortimo Planno said “You should be the General for Justice”.
4
General’s trademark dreadlocks are in their second incarnation. He grew them first in 1976 when he bought Bunny Wailer’s debut album “The Black Heart Man” and became interested in reggae and rasta. But returning to Australia a couple of years later he cut them off to improve his employment chances. The locks are kept by adherents to the Rastfarian religion as outlined in the Nazirite vow. The first time General went to Jamaica in 1984, he became involved in Rastafarianism, in particular a branch called the Twelve Tribes of Israel (Rastafari) the branch the Bob Marley was part of, which General brought back to Perth.
5
In 1984 General started Corroboree Records and opened a shop called Black and Blue Records. He was manager of seminal Perth band The Stems for a couple of years.
Listen to the Rare Air podcast with General Justice
See the photo essay featuring General Justice