Reggae

For most people, the word “reggae” may spark the picture of dreadlocked warblers plucking out syncopated guitar beats under heavy marijuana clouds. Chill vibes, palm trees, and tropical locations may also come to mind.

But how much do you really know about reggae?

The history of reggae and how it became a universally accredited music genre that is listened to on record players around the world is a fascinating story. This story is built on ambition, commitment, and national pride. Building on indigenous Jamaican musical styles to address the plight of Jamaicans during the last half of the 20th century, reggae forged a new path for Jamaican music and helped bolster the nation’s image at a time when it was still exploring its newfound independence.

With the inspiration of greats like Haile Selassie and the influence of musical geniuses like Bob Marley, Reggae has become a distinctive and unmistakable genre of sound. From its roots in Jamaica to international appeal, here’s how reggae landed on the map.

Where Reggae Comes Frome

As in many parts of the world, the end of World War II signaled a turning point in Jamaica’s history. Jamaicans flocked in droves from the island’s rural areas to its growing capital city—Kingston—in search of the opportunities the end of the war seemed to promise.

There, they built a vibrant social culture around the city’s famous dance halls, known as sound systems for the music they played.

For much of the 1940s and 1950s, these dancehalls played imported music, mostly American rock and rhythm and blues. But the rapid transformation the nation was undergoing at the time soon prompted a desire for a sound that was quintessentially Jamaican.

Enter ska music.

Reggae is a disciple of Ska, a music genre that started in the ‘50s. Ska is a by-product of Afro-Caribbean music and R&B. Ska’s distinct sound includes off-beat rhythms, blaring horns, piano, heavy guitar slaps, and quick beat drums. The pioneers of ska include:

• Ernie Ranglin
• Derrick Morgan
• Prince Buster
• Toots and the Maytals
• The Dominos

By the middle of the 1960s, however, the popularity of ska began to wane in favor of an emerging subgenre known as rocksteady.2 Primarily instrumental, rocksteady incorporated many of the same elements as ska but with more importance given to bass guitar and drums. Rhythmically, rocksteady is slower than ska, and the sound is more pared down.

With Afro-Carribean and R&B beats begetting ska, and ska giving birth to rocksteady, the question still remains: When was reggae created?

It is the road through ska and rocksteady that takes us to reggae, which first emerged in the late 1960s.3 Slower than rocksteady and featuring far more musical complexity than ska, reggae paid tribute to the music that came before it while still establishing itself as a distinct, brand-new sound of its own. Ska & Reggae classic albums are still loved by many today.