TENASTELIN
 Foundation Roots artist Anthony Robinson’s stage name is Tenastelin which, interestingly, is an Amharic greeting. He was born of Jamaican parentage in East London, coincidentally, in the same hospital as Boxing Legend, Lennox Lewis and had attended the same infant school. His first professional singing experience was with the ‘Coptic Roots’ band, formed by Ras James Anderson in the ‘80s. He moved to Northampton for a few years where his first taste of studio recording was with the Earthquake Studio. When he moved back to London, he started recording with Keety Roots’ ‘Vibes Posse’ and released his first single, ‘Commercial Bwoy’ on that label with a tune called ‘Burial Tonight’ on the flip side. At that time, ‘Roots music’ and ‘Dub’ seemed to be dying out whilst other styles known as ‘Ragga’ or ‘Bashment’ were emerging.
The Roots and Dub music, known then as ‘Steppas’, was rapidly spreading to other communities such as Europe. “You had legends like the Twinkle Brothers and the great Jah Shaka who kept the genre alive. I saw that the music was expanding so, I chose to sing songs that represented that change and transition instead of leaving it to others coming in and trying to change the music from its originality which, is (and must always be) the ‘Rastafari vibes’! The ‘Steppas’ style has now developed into what I would call the ‘Dub Arena’ - this is where the big, powerful Sound Systems would play awesome ‘modern Steppas tunes’, vocal and versions. My latest album, ‘Unknown Legends’, was directly composed for that mode, even though it can also be listened to quietly”, he explains.
To date, Tenastelin has issued eight albums and numerous singles. His albums are: ‘Wicked Invention’ (1989), ‘Sun And Moon’ (1992), ‘Take A Look At The World’ (1994), ‘Sacred Songs’ (1996), ‘The Order’ (self-produced, 1998), ‘Lion Symbol’ (1999), ‘Cosmic Intervention’ (2004) and the aforementioned, self-produced ‘Unknown Legends’. Currently, there's an album produced by ‘Iration Steppas’ released last year and some singles for ‘Reggae Remedy’ of France. There’s also ‘Spiritual Kinsmen’, a 10 inch single out on the Roots Hi-Tek label and ‘Richest Continent’ on the Black Legacy label.
Tenastelin prefers to work with a ‘live band’ rather than doing PAs. He describes himself as ‘aloof’ and has no manager or agent so his ‘live appearances’ have been few and far between. However, he has worked with bands on specific shows over the years like his own Lionistics Band, Dub Asante and even a band from the Middle East called Israel Dub Foundation. He continues to write and record songs mostly at his own ‘Dub Corner’ studio yet, if the opportunity arose, he would record for other labels and is looking to increase his live performances.
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