About Reggae

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About Reggae

Reggae is a contemporary style of Caribbean music that was originating in Jamaica. It is one of the most influential styles of world popular
music (see World beat). The term reggae (especially here in the United States of America) has been applied today, to many other Jamaican
and other Caribbean antecedent styles; this includes Mento, Ska, Calypso, and Rock Steady. The origins of reggae can be traced to the 1940s
during the emergence of mento; a hybrid that combines African folk-music traditions with Calypso, the carnival music of Trinidad. Mento
features rhythmic, syncopated guitar heavy bass line was introduced, giving birth to yet another genre; Ska. Ska was later slowed down
to the beat of Rock Steady. The groove was still too fast to satisfy the chants of the Rastaman, hence Reggae, erupted.

In the 1950s Jamaican musicians began to experiment with drum and bass patterns, inspired by the rhythm-and-blues music (R&B) being broadcast
by radio stations in the United States. By the 1960s mento had evolved into an upbeat style of dance music known as ska. Influenced by American
jazz, ska was predominantly instrumental and was epitomized by the music of the Skatalites, a group led by trombonist Don Drummond. By 1966
ska had mellowed into a style called rock steady. In contrast to ska, the sparse rhythms of rock steady allowed the vocalist to play a greater role
and encouraged the formation of a number of Jamaican pop vocal groups. Soon rock steady was combined with traditional mento rhythms to
produce reggae music. “Do the Reggay” (1968) by the Maytals was one of the earliest appearances of the term in a song. Reggae inverted traditional
rock music by allowing the guitar to take much of the rhythmic emphasis, often playing chords on the offbeat while the bass played melodic patterns.
Singer Jimmy Cliff became the first reggae performer to achieve international popularity, largely because of his lead role in the motion picture The
Harder They Come (1973), for which he also performed the title song.

Bob Marley, one of the most prolific reggae artists, was the next to achieve international popularity, and eventually superstardom. Marley
combined soulful melodies with strident lyrics that were informed by the Biblical mysticism and Afro-Caribbean awareness of the Rastafarian religion.
During the 1970s, Marley and many other Jamaican musicians sang about black unification and liberation, while advocating the smoking of ganja
(marijuana) as a religious sacrament. Marley gained mainstream recognition with his 1975 album Natty Dread. By the time of his death from cancer
in 1981, Marley and his band the Wailers had won worldwide respect for their highly melodic, spiritually moving pop songs.

Also during the 1970s, the sound of reggae was being reinvented by studio producers such as Lee Perry and King Tubby who used echo and
delay effects to create a sound known as dub. With vocals removed from tracks of dance songs, U Roy, I Roy, and other DJs began talking over
the music, a technique that was known as toasting. Dub and toasting were later transplanted to New York City, where they formed the basis for
hip-hop and rap music in the 1980s.

Reggae has undergone numerous transformations as reggae musicians have added various influences and as other popular musicians have embraced
the style. In the latter part of the 1970s, vocal groups such as Culture and the Abyssinians added rich harmonies and religious meditations to reggae.
In the 1980s singer Gregory Isaacs achieved great popularity by bringing a crooning style to reggae. An electronic-based variation of reggae,
known as raggamuffin or ragga, was prompted by the song “Under Me Sleng Teng” (1985), which was produced by King Jammy. The British
band UB40 has been a successful advocate of pop-reggae, topping the Billboard magazine popular music charts with “Red Red Wine” in 1988.
The raw DJ style of Jamaican performer Shabba Ranks resulted in consecutive Grammy Awards for him in 1991 and 1992. In the 1990s, the
energetic ska style was revived by American rock bands such as No Doubt. Many other popular artists have been influenced by the rhythms of
reggae, including British musicians Eric Clapton and the Police (see Sting) and American musicians Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder.

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