‘Back in my day, kids didn’t want to join gangs; it was all about sound systems,’ Levi Roots says before regaling me with a re-enactment of his first ever musical performance. He laughs infectiously, explaining how getting on stage as a box boy in 1977 secured him a spot in Sir Coxsone’s legendary sound system. 

‘Music was a big thing for me; I had a sort of vibe for music,’ says Roots. ‘A few weeks after that performance, I recorded my first song “Poor Man’s Story” and that became a massive hit.’ His music career was propelled by sound-system culture and he quickly found himself mixing with reggae royalty. ‘I was playing football with Bob Marley in Battersea Park at the weekends. He was a huge inspiration for me; I couldn’t believe I was rubbing shoulders with him and it was all because of my music.’ 

Roots left Jamaica at the age of four, growing up in Brixton, a place central to the UK Black civil-rights movement. In 1996, ten years after the Brixton riots, Nelson Mandela visited the area with the-then Prince Charles. ‘I was crowd-surfed to the front of the auditorium to sing “Happy Birthday, Mr President” to Nelson Mandela. It was one of my proudest moments, even if I didn’t sound like Marilyn Monroe.’

You would think that anyone who self-describes as a ‘jammy bastard’, has built a £35m business empire, made a name for themselves in the music industry and enjoyed a burgeoning career on screen might feel as though they had completed the game. But not Levi Roots. ‘Last year I was in the shower, singing away, and I had this spark: “has there ever been a musical about sound systems?” I merged reggae with food because Caribbean food was waiting to explode into the mainstream; now it’s sound systems.’

In less than a year, Roots has taken his idea from conception to the Fringe. Sound Clash: Death In The Arena is a contemporary street musical about star-crossed lovers, set in a dystopian world where music is everything. ‘It’s an absolute stonker of a play that is full of music, and acts of murder and killings, as Shakespeare would have had it done, but in a more modern setting.’ 

Roots describes the show as a reggae Romeo And Juliet tale that brings together dancehall culture, family politics and musical warfare. Modern reggae, hip hop, jungle and Afrobeats play out in this current-day love story: it’s a rollicking ride of music and lyrics.

Roots has teamed up with producer Adrian Grant from Thriller Live, choreographer Jade Hackett (Get Up Stand Up!) and director Ray Shell for a show that’s been written by award-winning novelist and playwright Alex Wheatle, whose own story featured in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology series in 2020. ‘Alex and I went to the same school and he was inspired by my music, so before I knew it, he’d written half the show.’

As the production prepares to open, it’s perhaps significant that this year marks the 75th anniversary of Windrush, a moment that shaped Britain socially, politically and musically. ‘It was sound system that bounded people together when they came to this country. They brought their records over from the Caribbean, then boom! You had these massive trucks with sound systems.’

Roots was born with the distinctly Scottish name of Keith Graham, which he changed after learning of its historical links to slavery. But nonetheless, he’s looking forward to revisiting his Scottish roots, declaring Edinburgh the perfect place to launch this show. Back in 2007, he famously serenaded viewers on Dragons’ Den while pitching his Reggae Reggae Sauce, singing, ‘it’s so nice, I had to name it twice’. Like his condiments, Roots will be hoping audiences love the show so much they’ll keep coming back for more.

Sound Clash: Death In The Arena, Pleasance Courtyard, 2–28 August, 4.10pm.