This paper looks into place's multidimensionality through the example of a western Kingston's slum. Reading the urban – or more accurately proto-urban – landscape of the peculiar Trenchtown's community allows us to reveal the place's politics, culture and identity. Trenchtown is the birthplace of reggae stars such as Bob Marley and many more. Explaining this landscape brings in factors such as violence linked to political malpractices (garrison politics, clientelism, etc.), State's abandon tied to Jamaican society's segregation as well as international macroeconomics, chronic economic poverty and huge cultural wealth (notably through Reggae music that emerged there and Rastafari culture).