Binghi

noun BIN-gee ˈbɪŋɡi

Also spelled nyabinghi, niyabinghi, bingi

Short for Nyabinghi — the oldest and most traditional order of Rastafari, and the name of its drumming and its sacred gatherings. Binghi drumming, built on the three drums — the deep bass, the steady funde, and the improvising repeater — is the heartbeat of Rastafari ceremony and reasoning, and it is a direct root of reggae's own rhythm. To 'keep a binghi' is to hold such a gathering, and the word gathers up the whole ancient, drum-centred, deeply spiritual core of the Rastafari faith and its worship.

  • Di binghi drums a call di people.

    The Nyabinghi drums are calling the people.

  • Him is a binghi man from long time.

    He has belonged to the Nyabinghi order for a long time.

  • Dem chant binghi till day light.

    They chanted Nyabinghi until daybreak.

From 'Nyabinghi', originally the name of an East African resistance movement and figure, adopted by Rastafari for its order devoted to the downfall of oppression.

Refers both to the order and to its style of drumming and chant. Deeply ceremonial.