The Heatwave Cram 50 Years of Jamaican Independence Into Five Million Rewinds Mixtape

There have been worse days to be Jamaican than today, with the awesome [truly awesome] Usain Bolt defending his 100 metre Olympic Gold in Stratford last night, there's also the small matter of the nation's 50 years of independence, which is being celebrated this week.

Marking the landmark year, our favourite Dancehall sounds The Heatwave have crammed 50 years of Jamaican music into just over an hour of mixtape. Boasting five million rewinds [we doubt those are official figures], the mixtape features My Boy Lollipop and Israelites, through to Sean Paul and Vybz Kartel,

The Heatwave will take you on a journey from reggae-sampling rave anthems to blues dance smashes by Janet Kay and Tappa Zukie, and not forgetting homegrown UK dancehall hits from Smiley Culture and Top Cat. This is a definitive guide of how Britain became musically dependent on Jamaica, around the same time the Caribbean island won its political independence.

Listen to the Five Million Rewinds Mixtape below and download it for free right here.