The sophomore album from the British ska band The English Beat was Wha'ppen?.
Released on May 8, 1981, Wha'ppen? followed the group’s acclaimed debut, I Just Can't Stop It. In the United Kingdom the band was generally known as the Beat, while the name English Beat was used in the United States to avoid confusion with an American group. That regional naming difference explains why the album is often described as an English Beat release.
The record retained the band’s ska and reggae foundation but broadened its palette with dub, worldbeat, African, and steel-band influences. Its more relaxed tempos surprised some fans who expected the fast, punk-edged energy of the debut. Songs such as “Drowning,” “Doors of Your Heart,” and “All Out to Get You” carried socially aware lyrics within that more spacious sound.
Wha'ppen? reached No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart. The band followed it with Special Beat Service in 1982, its third and final studio album from the original run.