Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
n folk music and many popular genres, such as
mento
Mento is a style of Jamaican folk music that predates and has greatly influenced ska and reggae music. It is a fusion of African rhythmic elements and European elements, which reached peak popularity in the 1940s and 1950s. Mento typically ...
,
ska
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
reggae fusion
Reggae fusion is a genre of reggae that mixes reggae and/or dancehall with other genres, such as pop, rock, hip hop, R&B, jazz, funk, soul, disco, electronic and latin.
Origin
Although artists have been mixing reggae with other genres from as ...
and related styles.
Reggae is especially popular through the international fame of
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...
. Jamaican music's influence on music styles in other countries includes the practice of toasting, which was brought to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
jungle music
Jungle is a genre of dance music that developed out of the UK rave scene and sound system culture in the 1990s. Emerging from breakbeat hardcore, the style is characterised by rapid breakbeats, heavily syncopated percussive loops, samples, and ...
and
grime
Grime may refer to:
* Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust
* Grime (music genre), a genre of music
* ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity
* ''Grime'' (video game), a 2021 Metroidvania video game
* "Grime", a 2022 song by Dallas Woo ...
are also influenced by Jamaican music.
Mento
Mento is a style of Jamaican music that predates and has greatly influenced
ska
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
and
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
music.
Lord Flea
Lord Flea was the stage name of Norman Byfield Thomas (1931/32 or 1933/34Some sources, including contemporary sources, give his age at death as 27, and others as 25. His daughter, quoted in 2004, gave his age as 27, but in 2008 gave it as 25. ...
and
Count Lasher
Count Lasher (sometimes styled Count Lasha) was the stage-name of Terence Parkins (''c''.1921 – 1977
Michael Garnice states that Count Lasher died in 1977 at the age of 51, but in the ''Caribbean Popular Music: An Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, ...
are two of the more successful mento artists. Well-known mento songs include Day-O,
Jamaica Farewell
"Jamaica Farewell" is a Jamaican-style folk song (mento). The lyrics for the song were written by Lord Burgess (Irving Burgie), an American-born, half- Barbadian songwriter. It is about the beauties of the West Indian Islands.
Harry Belafonte ...
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
.
Calypso and Soca
As in many
Anglo-Caribbean
The Commonwealth Caribbean is the region of the Caribbean with English-speaking countries and territories, which once constituted the Caribbean portion of the British Empire and are now part of the Commonwealth of Nations. The term includes ma ...
islands, the calypso music of Trinidad and Tobago has become part of the
culture of Jamaica
Jamaican culture consists of the religion, norms, values, and lifestyle that define the people of Jamaica. The culture is mixed, with an ethnically diverse society, stemming from a history of inhabitants beginning with the original inhabitants of ...
. Jamaica's own local music
mento
Mento is a style of Jamaican folk music that predates and has greatly influenced ska and reggae music. It is a fusion of African rhythmic elements and European elements, which reached peak popularity in the 1940s and 1950s. Mento typically ...
is often confused with calypso music. Although the two share many similarities, they are separate and distinct musical forms. During the mid-20th century, mento was conflated with calypso, and mento was frequently referred to as ''calypso'', ''kalypso'' and ''mento calypso''; mento singers frequently used calypso songs and techniques. As in calypso, mento uses topical lyrics with a humorous slant, commenting on poverty and other social issues. Sexual innuendos are also common.
The
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
ian calypso and
soca music
Soca music is a genre of music defined by Lord Shorty, its inventor, as the "Soul of Calypso", which has influences of African and East Indian rhythms. It was originally spelt "sokah" by its inventor but through an error in a local newspaper ...
are popular in Jamaica. Popular calypso/soca artists from Jamaica include
Byron Lee
Byron Lee , ''Jamaica Gleaner'', 27 October 2008. born Byron Aloysius St. Elmo Lee ...
, Fab 5, and Lovindeer.
Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...
(born in the U.S., raised in Jamaica from age 5 to 13) introduced American audiences to calypso music (which had originated in Trinidad and Tobago in the early 20th century), and Belafonte was dubbed the "King of Calypso".
Jazz
From early in the 20th century, Jamaica produced many notable jazz musicians. In this development the enlightened policy of the
Alpha Boys School
Alpha Cottage School (often referred to as Alpha Boys School, Convent of Mercy "Alpha" Academy and now called Alpha Institute) was the name of the vocational residential school on South Camp Road in Kingston, Jamaica, still run by Roman Catholic ...
in Kingston, which provided training and encouragement in music education for its pupils, was very influential. Also significant was the brass band tradition of the island, strengthened by opportunities for musical work and training in military contexts. However, limited scope for making a career playing jazz in Jamaica resulted in many local jazz musicians leaving the island to settle in London or in the United States.
Among the most notable Jamaican jazz instrumentalists who made successful careers abroad was alto saxophonist
Joe Harriott
Joseph Arthurlin Harriott (15 July 1928 – 2 January 1973) was a Jamaican jazz musician and composer, whose principal instrument was the alto saxophone.
Initially a bebopper, he became a pioneer of free-form jazz. Born in Kingston, Harriott ...
, now regarded internationally as one of the most original and innovative of jazz composers. Also internationally successful were trumpeters
Dizzy Reece
Alphonso Son "Dizzy" Reece (born 5 January 1931) is a Jamaican-born hard bop jazz trumpeter. Reece is among a group of jazz musicians born in Jamaica which includes Bertie King, Joe Harriott, Roland Alphonso, Wilton Gaynair, Sonny Bradshaw, ...
Coleridge Goode
George Coleridge Emerson Goode (29 November 1914 – 2 October 2015) was a British Jamaican-born jazz bassist best known for his long collaboration with alto saxophonist Joe Harriott. Goode was a member of Harriott's innovatory jazz quintet thro ...
, guitarist
Ernest Ranglin
Ernest Ranglin (born 19 June 1932) is a Jamaican guitarist and composer who established his career while working as a session guitarist and music director for various Jamaican record labels including Studio One and Island Records. Ranglin pla ...
and pianist
Monty Alexander
Montgomery Bernard "Monty" Alexander (born 6 June 1944) is a Jamaican jazz pianist. His playing has a Caribbean influence and bright swinging feeling, with a strong vocabulary of bebop jazz and blues rooted melodies. He was influenced by Louis ...
.
Harriott, Goode, Hutchinson and Thompson built their careers in London, along with many other instrumentalists, such as pianist
Yorke de Souza
York is a city in North Yorkshire, England, and the historical capital of Yorkshire.
York or Yorke may also refer to:
Places
* City of York (disambiguation)
* Little York (disambiguation)
*New York (disambiguation)
* North York (disambiguation) ...
and the outstanding saxophonist Bertie King, who later returned to Jamaica and formed a mento-style band. Reece and Alexander worked in the US. Saxophonist Wilton 'Bogey' Gaynair settled in Germany working mainly with Kurt Edelhagen's orchestra.
Ska
Ska
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean
mento
Mento is a style of Jamaican folk music that predates and has greatly influenced ska and reggae music. It is a fusion of African rhythmic elements and European elements, which reached peak popularity in the 1940s and 1950s. Mento typically ...
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
and
rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
. The first ever ska recording was made by
Count Ossie
Count Ossie, born Oswald Williams (23 April 1926Ancestry.com. Jamaica, Civil Registration Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1878-1995 atabase on-line Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. – 18 October 1976Moskowitz, David V. ...
, a
Nyabinghi
Nyabinghi or Nyabingi is a prominent figure in the history of Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania, where religions or 'possession cults' formed around her.
Probably via a 1930s article, the term "Nyabinghi" was introduced to Jamaica. There, it was adopted ...
drummer from the rasta community. It is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the upbeat. In the early 1960s, ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods. Later it became popular with many skinheads.
Music historians typically divide the history of ska into three periods: the original Jamaican scene of the 1960s (First Wave), the English 2 Tone ska revival of the late 1970s (Second Wave) and the third wave ska movement, which started in the 1980s (Third Wave) and rose to popularity in the US in the 1990s. The recent revival of Jamaican Jazz attempts to bring back the sound of early Jamaican music artists of the late 1950s.
DJs and toasting
Along with the rise of ska came the popularity of deejays such as
Sir Lord Comic
Sir Lord Comic is one of the original Jamaican deejays.
Biography
His career began as a dancer with the ''Admiral Dean'' sound system.Larkin, Colin:"The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae", 1998, Virgin Books, In the late 1950s, following the lea ...
,
King Stitt
Winston Sparkes (17 September 1940 – 31 January 2012), better known as King Stitt, was a Jamaican pioneer DJ.
Biography
He earned the nickname as a boy because of his stuttering and decided to use it as his stage name. Stitt began deejaying ...
and pioneer
Count Matchuki
Winston Cooper (c.1929–1995), better known as Count Matchuki or Count Machuki, was a Jamaican deejay.
Biography
Cooper was born c.1929 in Kingston, Jamaica,Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, M ...
, who began talking stylistically over the rhythms of popular songs at sound systems. In Jamaican music, the Deejay is the one who talks (known elsewhere as the MC) and the
selector
Selector may refer to:
*Selector, electrical or mechanical component, a switch
*''Selector'', music scheduling software for radio stations created by Radio Computing Services
*Selector, of music, otherwise known as a disc jockey
*Selector, a per ...
is the person who chooses the records. The popularity of Deejays as an essential component of the sound system, and created a need for instrumental songs, as well as instrumental versions of popular vocal songs.
Toasting is a type of lyrical chanting over the beat. While Dancehall music involves deejays, they are the ones chanting or humming over the rhythm or track. With the rise of many different genres, toasting became popular in Jamaica during the 1960s and 1970s.
In the late 1960s, producers such as
King Tubby
Osbourne Ruddock (28 January 1941 – 6 February 1989), better known as King Tubby, was a Jamaican sound engineer who greatly influenced the development of dub in the 1960s and 1970s.
Tubby's innovative studio work, which saw him elevate the ...
and Lee Perry began stripping the vocals away from tracks recorded for sound system parties. With the bare beats and bass playing and the lead instruments dropping in and out of the mix, Deejays began toasting, or delivering humorous and often provoking jabs at fellow deejays and local celebrities. Over time, toasting became an increasingly complex activity, and became as big a draw as the dance beats played behind it.
The basic elements of hip-hop—boasting raps, rival posses, uptown throwdowns, and political commentary—were all present in Jamaican music When rocksteady and
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
bands looked to make their music a form of national and even international black resistance, they used Jamaican culture. Jamaican music, moved back and forth between the predominance of boasting and toasting songs packed with 'slackness' and sexual innuendo and a more topical, political, 'conscious' style.
rude boy
Rude boy, rudeboy, rudie, rudi, and rudy are slang terms that originated in 1960s Jamaican street culture, and that are still used today. In the late 1970s, there was a revival in England of the terms ''rude boy'' and ''rude girl'', among other ...
s by the mid-1960s, when
The Wailers
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
and
The Clarendonians
The Clarendonians are a ska and rocksteady vocal group from Jamaica, active initially from the mid- to late 1960s. They reformed in the 1990s and continue to perform live.
History
The Clarendonians were originally Fitzroy "Ernest" Wilson and P ...
dominated the charts.
Desmond Dekker
Desmond Dekker (16 July 1941 – 25 May 2006) was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer-songwriter and musician. Together with his backing group The Aces (consisting of Wilson James and Easton Barrington Howard), he had one of the earlie ...
's "007" brought international attention to the new genre. The mix put heavy emphasis on the bass line, as opposed to ska's strong horn section, and the rhythm guitar began playing on the upbeat. Session musicians like Supersonics,
Soul Vendors
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
Jackie Mittoo
Donat Roy Mittoo (3 March 1948 – 16 December 1990), better known as Jackie Mittoo, was a Jamaican-Canadian keyboardist, songwriter and musical director. He was a member of The Skatalites and musical director of the Studio One record label.
...
(of the Skatalites) became popular during this period.
Reggae
Reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
is one of the music genres first created in Jamaica. In the late 1960s, around the same time of toasting, reggae grew out of early Ska and Rocksteady.
Reggae became popular around the world, due in large part to the international success of artists like
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...
Bunny Wailer
Neville O'Riley Livingston (10 April 1947 – 2 March 2021), known professionally as Bunny Wailer, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and percussionist. He was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. ...
. Marley was viewed as a
Rastafarian
Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control ...
messianic figure by some fans, particularly throughout the Caribbean, Africa, and among Native Americans and
Australian Aborigine
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Island ...
s. His lyrics about love, redemption and natural beauty captivated audiences, and he gained headlines for negotiating truces between the two opposing Jamaican political parties (at the One Love Concert), led by
Michael Manley
Michael Norman Manley (10 December 1924 – 6 March 1997) was a Jamaican politician who served as the fourth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1972 to 1980 and from 1989 to 1992. Manley championed a democratic socialist program, and has been ...
Edward Seaga
Edward Philip George Seaga ( or ; 28 May 1930 – 28 May 2019) was a Jamaican politician. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Jamaica, from 1980 to 1989, and the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party from 1974 to 2005.dub music had emerged as a distinct reggae genre, and heralded the dawn of the remix. Developed by record producers such as
Lee "Scratch" Perry
Lee "Scratch" Perry (born Rainford Hugh Perry; 20 March 1936 – 29 August 2021) was a Jamaican record producer, composer and singer noted for his innovative studio techniques and production style. Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s development o ...
and
King Tubby
Osbourne Ruddock (28 January 1941 – 6 February 1989), better known as King Tubby, was a Jamaican sound engineer who greatly influenced the development of dub in the 1960s and 1970s.
Tubby's innovative studio work, which saw him elevate the ...
, dub featured previously recorded songs remixed with prominence on the bass. Often the lead instruments and vocals would drop in and out of the mix, sometimes processed heavily with studio effects. King Tubby's advantage came from his intimate knowledge with audio gear, and his ability to build his own sound systems and recording studios that were superior to the competition. He became famous for his remixes of recordings made by others, as well as those he recorded in his own studio.
Other 1970s developments
Other popular music forms that arose during the 1970s include: Briton (
Linton Kwesi Johnson
Linton Kwesi Johnson (born 24 August 1952), also known as LKJ, is a Jamaica-born, British-based dub poet and activist. In 2002 he became the second living poet, and the only black one, to be published in the Penguin Modern Classics series. His p ...
's
dub poetry
Dub poetry is a form of performance poetry of West Indian origin, which evolved out of dub music in Kingston, Jamaica, in the 1970s,
);
Sly & Robbie
Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separ ...
melodica
The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usua ...
, becoming popular with artists such as
The Mighty Diamonds
The Mighty Diamonds were a Jamaican harmony trio, recording roots reggae with a strong Rastafarian influence. The group was formed in 1969 and were best known for their 1976 debut album, '' Right Time'', produced by Joseph Hoo Kim, and the 197 ...
Joe Gibbs
Joe Jackson Gibbs (born November 25, 1940) is an American auto racing team owner and former professional football coach. In football, he was head coach for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) from 1981 to 1992, and ...
' mellower rockers reggae, including music by
Culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...
and
Dennis Brown
Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (1 February 1957 – 1 July 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of lo ...
;
Burning Spear
Winston Rodney OD (born 1 March 1945), better known by the stage name Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer-songwriter, vocalist and musician. Burning Spear is a Rastafarian and one of the most influential and long-standing roots ...
's distinctive style, as represented by the albums ''
Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African ...
'' and '' Man in the Hills''; and harmonic, spiritually oriented Rasta music like that of
The Abyssinians
The Abyssinians are a Jamaican roots reggae group, famous for their close harmonies and promotion of the Rastafari movement in their lyrics.
History
The vocal trio was originally formed in 1968 by Bernard Collins and Donald Manning. Their fir ...
,
Black Uhuru
Black Uhuru is a Jamaican reggae group formed in 1972, initially as Uhuru ( Swahili for 'freedom'). The group has undergone several line-up changes over the years, with Derrick "Duckie" Simpson as the mainstay. They had their most successful per ...
and
Third World
The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...
. In 1975,
Louisa Mark
Louisa Lynthia Mark, also known as "Markswoman" (11 January 1960 – 17 October 2009), was a British lovers rock singer, best known for her work between the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Her 1975 single "Caught You in a Lie" is regarded as the f ...
had a hit with "Caught You in a Lie", beginning a trend of British performers making romantic, ballad-oriented reggae called lovers rock.
Reggae and ska had a massive influence on British punk rock and new wave bands of the 1970s, such as
The Clash
The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...
,
Elvis Costello and the Attractions
Declan Patrick MacManus OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in 2020, and has twice been nom ...
,
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Polic ...
,
The Slits
The Slits were a punk and post-punk band based in London, formed there in 1976 by members of the groups the Flowers of Romance and the Castrators. The group's early line-up consisted of Ari Up (Ariane Forster) and Palmolive (a.k.a. Paloma R ...
, and
The Ruts
The Ruts (later known as Ruts DC) are an English reggae-influenced punk rock band, notable for the 1979 UK top 10 hit single "Babylon's Burning", and an earlier single "In a Rut", which was not a hit but was highly regarded and regularly pla ...
. Ska revival bands such as
The Specials
The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, Lynval ...
The Selecter
The Selecter are an English 2 tone ska revival band, formed in Coventry, England, in 1979.
The Selecter featured a diverse line-up, both in terms of race and gender, initially consisting of Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson and Pauline Black on lead ...
developed the
2 Tone
Two-tone, two tone, or 2 tone, etc., may refer to:
Audio and sound
* Two-tone analysis, in nonlinear system measurement
* Two-tone attention signal
* Two-tone chime, such as the "ding dong" sound of a doorbell
* Two-tone sequential paging, sel ...
genre.
Dancehall and ragga
During the 1980s, the most popular music styles in Jamaica were dancehall and
ragga
Raggamuffin music, usually abbreviated as ragga, is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music. Similar to hip hop, sampling often serves a prominent role in raggamuffin music.
Wayne Smi ...
. Dancehall is essentially speechifying with musical accompaniment, including a basic drum beat (most often played on electric drums). The lyrics moved away from the political and spiritual lyrics popular in the 1970s and concentrate more on less serious issues ragga is characterized by the use of computerized beats and sequenced melodic track.
Ragga is usually said to have been invented with the song "Under Mi Sleng Teng" by Wayne Smith. Ragga barely edged out dancehall as the dominant form of Jamaican music in the 1980s. DJ
Shabba Ranks
Shabba Ranks (born Rexton Rawlston Fernando Gordon; 17 January 1966) is a Jamaican dancehall musician. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was one of the most popular Jamaican musicians in the world. Throughout his prominence in his home cou ...
and vocalist team
Chaka Demus
John Taylor (born 16 April 1963), better known as Chaka Demus, is a Jamaican reggae musician and deejay, best known as part of the duo Chaka Demus & Pliers.
Biography Early years
Born in West Kingston, Taylor was a regular attendee at Kings ...
and Pliers proved more enduring than the competition, and helped inspire an updated version of the
rude boy
Rude boy, rudeboy, rudie, rudi, and rudy are slang terms that originated in 1960s Jamaican street culture, and that are still used today. In the late 1970s, there was a revival in England of the terms ''rude boy'' and ''rude girl'', among other ...
culture called
raggamuffin
Ragamuffin or Raggamuffin may refer to:
Film
* ''The Ragamuffin'', a 1916 American silent film by William C. deMille
* ''Ragamuffin'', a 2014 film directed by David Schultz about Rich Mullins
Music
* Raggamuffin music, or ragga, a reggae and dan ...
.
Dancehall was sometimes violent in lyrical content, and several rival performers made headlines with their feuds across Jamaica (most notably Beenie Man versus
Bounty Killer
Rodney Basil Price (born 12 June 1972), known as Bounty Killer, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay. AllMusic describes him as "one of the most aggressive dancehall stars of the '90s, a street-tough rude boy with an unrepentant flair f ...
). Dancehall emerged from pioneering recordings in the late 1970s by
Barrington Levy
Barrington Ainsworth Levy (born 30 April 1964) is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist.
Career
Levy was born in Clarendon, Jamaica. He formed a band called the Mighty Multitude, with his cousin, Everton Dacres; the pair released "My Bl ...
, with
Roots Radics
The Roots Radics Band was formed in 1978 by bass player Errol "Flabba" Holt, guitarist Eric "Bingy Bunny" Lamont and drummer Lincoln "Style" Scott. They were joined by many musicians, including guitarist Noel "Sowell" Bailey, Dwight Pinkn ...
backing and Junjo Lawes as producer. The Roots Radics were the pre-eminent backing band for the dancehall style.
Yellowman
Winston Foster , better known by the stage name Yellowman, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay, also known as King Yellowman. He first became popular in Jamaica in the 1980s, rising to prominence with a series of singles that established ...
,
Ini Kamoze
Ini Kamoze ( , born Cecil Campbell; 9 October 1957) is a Jamaican reggae artist who began his career in the early 1980s and rose to prominence in 1994 with the signature song "Here Comes the Hotstepper". The single topped the US ''Billboard'' ...
, Charlie Chaplin and General Echo helped popularize the style along with producers like
Sugar Minott
Lincoln Barrington "Sugar" Minott (25 May 1956 – 10 July 2010)Campbell, Howard (2010)Reggae singer Sugar Minott dies at 54, Associated Press, 11 July 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2010Peru, Yasmine (2010)Godfather of Dancehall, Sugar Minott, dead at ...
.
The 1980s saw a rise in reggae music from outside of Jamaica. During this time, reggae particularly influenced
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
n popular music, where Sonny Okusuns, John Chibadura,
Lucky Dube
Lucky Philip Dube (pronounced ''duu-beh''; luckydubemusic.com, Retrieved 19 October 2007 3 August 1964 – 18 October 20 ...
and
Alpha Blondy
Seydou Koné (; born January 1, 1953 in Dimbokro), better known by his stage name Alpha Blondy, is an Ivorian reggae singer and international recording artist. Many of his songs are politically and socially motivated, and are mainly sung in hi ...
became stars. The 1980s saw the end of the dub era in Jamaica, although dub has remained a popular and influential style in the UK, and to a lesser extent throughout Europe and the US. Dub in the 1980s and 1990s has merged with
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...
.
The late 2000s saw large local success for dancehall artists like
Popcaan
Andrae Hugh Sutherland (born 19 July 1988), known professionally as Popcaan, is a Jamaican singer.
In 2008, Popcaan joined Vybz Kartel's Gaza Music Empire. In 2010, he released his breakthrough international hit "Clarks" with Kartel, an ode ...
,
Vybz Kartel
Adidja Azim Palmer (born 7 January 1976), better known as Vybz Kartel, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall recording artist, composer, record producer, and entrepreneur. Among his various nicknames, he is referred to as "Worl' Boss". As summarize ...
Konshens
Garfield Delano Spence (born 11 January 1985), also known as Konshens, is a Jamaican dancehall recording artist.
Biography
Garfield Delano Spence was born on 11 January 1985. Prior to his solo career, he was a member of the duo SoJah with his ...
,
Mr. Vegas
Clifford Smith (born December 29th, 1974), better known as Mr. Vegas, is a Jamaican dancehall musician.
Biography
Clifford Smith was born in Kingston in 1974.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn.", Rough Gu ...
and Mavado. In the next decade, others artists such as
Tommy Lee Sparta
Leroy Russell Junior (born 4 November 1987), better known by his stage names Tommy Lee and Tommy Lee Sparta, is a Jamaican dancehall artist from Flankers Montego Bay, Jamaica. Tommy Lee Sparta gained popularity as a member of Adidjahiem Rec ...
, Alkaline, and Cashtro Troy, would also rise to the dancehall scene.Archived a Ghostarchive and th Wayback Machine By the late 2010s, music in Western markets saw influences of dancehall in pop music, including Drake's "
One Dance
"One Dance" is a song by Canadian rapper and singer Drake from his fourth studio album '' Views'' (2016). It features guest vocals from Nigerian afrobeats artist WizKid and British singer Kyla. The artists co-wrote the dancehall and afrobeats so ...
" and "
Controlla
"Controlla" is a song by Canadian rapper Drake, recorded for his fourth studio album '' Views''. The song was released as the fourth single from the album in the US on June 7, 2016. The dancehall song was written by Drake, Matthew Samuels, Dwayne ...
" (2016) and Rihanna's "
Work
Work may refer to:
* Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community
** Manual labour, physical work done by humans
** House work, housework, or homemaking
** Working animal, an animal t ...
" (2016).
Reggae fusion
Reggae fusion emerged as a popular subgenre in the late 1990s. It is a mixture of reggae or dancehall with elements of other genres such as hip hop, R&B, jazz, rock 'n roll or indie rock. It is closely related to
ragga
Raggamuffin music, usually abbreviated as ragga, is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music. Similar to hip hop, sampling often serves a prominent role in raggamuffin music.
Wayne Smi ...
music. It originated in
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
, Reggae fusion artists from Jamaica with a #1 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 hit include
Ini Kamoze
Ini Kamoze ( , born Cecil Campbell; 9 October 1957) is a Jamaican reggae artist who began his career in the early 1980s and rose to prominence in 1994 with the signature song "Here Comes the Hotstepper". The single topped the US ''Billboard'' ...
with "
Here Comes the Hotstepper
"Here Comes the Hotstepper" is a song co-written and recorded by Jamaican dancehall artist Ini Kamoze. It was released as the lead single from his 1995 album of the same name as well as the soundtrack to the film ''Prêt-à-Porter''. It is kno ...
" in 1994,
Super Cat
William Anthony Maragh (born 25 June 1963),Huey, Steve " Super Cat Biography, Allmusic, retrieved 18 July 2010 also known as Super Cat, is a Jamaican deejay who achieved widespread popularity during the late 1980s and early 1990s dancehall mo ...
Shaggy
Shaggy may refer to:
People
*Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer
* Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse
* Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspor ...
(2 #1 hits, like "
Angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...
"),
Rikrok
"It Wasn't Me" is the first single from Jamaican-American reggae musician Shaggy's fifth studio album, '' Hot Shot'' (2000). The song features vocals from RikRok (credited as Rickardo "RikRok" Ducent). The lyrics of the song depict one man (Rik ...
(featured on Shaggy's song "
It Wasn't Me
"It Wasn't Me" is the first single from Jamaican-American reggae musician Shaggy's fifth studio album, '' Hot Shot'' (2000). The song features vocals from RikRok (credited as Rickardo "RikRok" Ducent). The lyrics of the song depict one man (Rik ...
Get Busy
"Get Busy" is a dancehall song by Jamaican reggae toaster Sean Paul, from his album ''Dutty Rock''. The song was one of the many hits from the jumpy handclap riddim known as the Diwali Riddim, produced by then-newcomer Steven Marsden, and ...
OMI (singer)
Omar Samuel Pasley (born 3 September 1986), better known by his stage name OMI ( ), is a Jamaican singer. He is best known for "Cheerleader", a worldwide hit for him in a remixed version by German DJ Felix Jaehn. He is currently signed to Ultra ...
with " Cheerleader" in 2015. All are from Kingston, except Ini Kamoze, Rikrok, and OMI.
Non-Rastafarian Jamaican religious music
The Bongo Nation is a distinct group of Jamaicans possibly descended from the Congo. They are known for
Kumina
Kumina is an Afro-Jamaican religion. Kumina has practices that include secular ceremonies, dance and music that developed from the beliefs and traditions brought to the island by Kongo enslaved people and indentured labourers, from the Congo r ...
, which refers to both a
religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
and a form of music. Kumina's distinctive drumming style became one of the roots of Rastafarian drumming, itself the source of the distinctive Jamaican rhythm heard in ska, rocksteady and reggae. The modern intertwining of Jamaican religion and music can be traced back to the 1860s, when the
Pocomania
Myal is an Afro-Jamaican spirituality. It developed via the creolization of African religions during the slave era in Jamaica. It incorporates ritualistic magic, spiritual possession and dancing. Unlike Obeah, its practices focus more on the conne ...
and
Revival Zion
Myal is an Afro-Jamaican spirituality. It developed via the creolization of African religions during the slave era in Jamaica. It incorporates ritualistic magic, spiritual possession and dancing. Unlike Obeah, its practices focus more on the conne ...
churches drew on
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
n traditions, and incorporated music into almost every facet of
worship
Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recogniti ...
. Later, this trend spread into
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
communities, resulting in baccra music.
The spread of Rastafari into urban Jamaica in the 1960s transformed the Jamaican music scene, which incorporated drumming (played at grounation ceremonies) and which has led to today's popular music. Many of the above-mentioned music and dance have been studied by
Rex Nettleford
Ralston Milton "Rex" Nettleford, OM, FIJ, OCC (3 February 1933 – 2 February 2010), was a Jamaican scholar, social critic, choreographer, and Vice-Chancellor Emeritus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), the leading research university ...
artistic director (retired professor and vice chancellor of The University of the West Indies) and Marjorie Whyle Musical Director (Caribbean Musicologist, pianist, drummer, arranger lecturer at the University of the West Indies). Since 1962, this volunteer company of dancers and musicians have had many of these dances in its core repertoire and have performed worldwide to large audiences, including The British Royal family.
Other developments
Other trends included minimalist digital tracks, which began with Dave Kelly's "Pepper Seed" in 1995, alongside the return of love balladeers like
Beres Hammond
Beres Hammond OJ (born Hugh Beresford Hammond; 28 August 1955, in Annotto Bay, Saint Mary, Jamaica)Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall'', Greenwood Press, , p. ...
. American, British, and
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
musicians used reggae-oriented beats to create further hybrid electronic music styles. Dub, world music, and
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...
continue to influence music in the 2000s. One of the latest developments is a musical form called Linguay which was founded by record producer Lissant Folkes in 2013.
JaFolk Mix is a term coined by Jamaican musician Joy Fairclough, to mean the mix of Jamaican Folk Music with any foreign and local styles of music and the evolution of a new sound created by their fusion. This is the latest Jamaican Music stylistic development of the late 20th century and 21st century. Jamaican music continues to influence the world's music. Many efforts at studying and copying Jamaican music has introduced the world to this new form of music as the copied styles are performed with accents linguistically and musically slanted to that of the home nation in which it is being studied, copied and performed.
References
Further reading
* Goode, Coleridge and Roger Cotterrell, ''Bass Lines: A Life in Jazz''. London:
Northway Books
Northway Books ( Northway Publications) is a publishing company based in London, UK. Northway specialises in biographies of musicians, and British social and cultural history. Its focus has been particularly on documenting jazz history in Britain ...
, 2002.
*
* Mthembu-Salter, Gregory and Peter Dalton. "The Loudest Island in the World". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), ''World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific'', pp 430–456. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books.
* Kroubo Dagnini, Jérémie. ''Vibrations Jamaïcaine. L'Histoire des musiques populaires jamaïcaines au XXe siècle''. Camion Blanc. Paris (French language).
* Mthembu-Salter, Gregory and Peter Dalton. "Lovers and Poets – Babylon Sounds". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), ''World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific'', pp 457–462. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books.
* O'Brien Chang, Kevin and Wayne Chen. ''Reggae Routes: The Story of Jamaican Music''. Temple University Press. Philadelphia.
* Jahn, Brian and Tom Weber. ''Reggae Island: Jamaican Music in the Digital Age''. Da Capo Press. Kingston.
* Robertson, Alan, ''Joe Harriott: Fire in his Soul''. London:
Northway Books
Northway Books ( Northway Publications) is a publishing company based in London, UK. Northway specialises in biographies of musicians, and British social and cultural history. Its focus has been particularly on documenting jazz history in Britain ...
, 2003.
* Staple, Neville. ''
Original Rude Boy
''Original Rude Boy'' (2009) is the autobiography of Neville Staple, vocalist in ska band The Specials. The book was launched in May, 2009 to coincide with the reunion tour of The Specials. It sets out to chart the black British influence on the ...
''. 2009.
Aurum Press
The Quarto Group is a global illustrated book publishing group founded in 1976. It is domiciled in the United States and listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Quarto creates and sells illustrated books for adults and children, across 50 countri ...
.
* Thompson, Leslie with Jeffrey Green, ''Swing from a Small Island: The Story of Leslie Thompson''. London:
Northway Books
Northway Books ( Northway Publications) is a publishing company based in London, UK. Northway specialises in biographies of musicians, and British social and cultural history. Its focus has been particularly on documenting jazz history in Britain ...