O.B.F

Situated between the Geneva region and the French dub scene, O.B.F has been developing since the early 2000s a project centered on sound system culture, built around the hand-crafted PA assembled by the crew and studio production work. Led by producer and selector Rico, O.B.F operates both as a sound system and as a collective of musicians, working within a modern dub that draws on roots reggae, European steppers and the digital textures inherited from the United Kingdom. Through the sessions they organise across Europe, the group has consolidated a core of regular vocal collaborators — among them Shanti D, Charlie P, Sr. Wilson and Nazamba — who help shape O.B.F’s sonic identity on stage and on record. The creation of the Dubquake Records label gave structure to these activities and enabled the release of a first studio album, Wild in 2014, followed by Signz in 2020, both conceived as collective projects bringing together several generations of singers. O.B.F’s sound is marked by very prominent basslines, the systematic use of live dub, a play with silences and echo effects, and arrangements written for the power of the sound system while remaining suited to more intimate listening.