A History of Reggae Music

Reggae music began in the 1950s and 60s on the island of Jamaica. It came out of an earlier Jamaican music known as ska which became big in the 50's. There is definitely a strong African and Caribbean musical influence in reggae, but ska is it's most direct predecessor. Reggae and ska both evolved over the decades since then and by the 1970's reggae had developed into a genre of it's own.

In the 60s many artists were playing slow ska beats and this is what eventually evolved into the "rock-stead" style marked by reggae these days. Some early reggae artists were helping to define the standard reggae style that characterises reggae music, but it didn't become the international sensation that it is today until it was polished and performed by bigger artists like Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff, Bunny Wailer and others.

In the 1970's the classic American re-make of "I Shot the Sherriff" by Eric Clapton helped propel reggae higher in the US and Europe. It's popularity fanned out all over the world from there with such greats as Bunny Wailer, Steel Pulse, Burning Spear, Trinity, Josey Wales, Freddie McGregor, Black Uhuru, the Gladiators and too many more to mention.

There can be no history of reggae without mentioning the producers and studios in Jamaica (and later the US and the UK) who added their highly influential touches to the genre. Coxsone Dodd, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Joe Gibbs, King Tubby and other artists and producers shattered the rules of music and recording at the time to firmly establish reggae as a style of music that stood extremely far from other genres - as it remains today.

In addition to the producers, artists and engineers who forged new ground in reggae, there were certain promoters and labels who helped immensely in getting the sound well established in places besides Jamaica. To some reggae fans today, there is a sense of lamentation when remembering that reggae, like everything else unique and valuable from the poor nations of the world, was taken from the island and now no longer "belongs" to Jamaica.

Also in the 1970s and 80s, when Bob Marley was living in the UK, reggae mixed up with the UK punk rock scene, and even produced a hit for Bob Marley called "Punky Reggae Party" which was inspired by his mixing with the punk rock scene there. Another famous development from the punk fusion was from the great UK rock band, The Clash, who worked very closely with several reggae artists and even produced their Sandinista LP with Mikey Dread at the controls and on the mic.

In the 80s reggae stayed strong in Jamaica and abroad, and sparked some new talent as well as fertile ground for the artists from the 1970s to continue producing the feel-good tunes that are great reggae classics today. It was also in the 80s that the great Bob Marley passed away from cancer.

The 1990s saw a surge of new artists rising from Jamaica with lots of talent and extra frustaration that is characteristic of so many reggae lyrics and punchlines. An extra rise in Ras Tafari philosophy in the music also began to surface in the 1990s as artists like Anthony B, Capleton, Sizzla, Luciano and others burst onto the scene wearing turbans and dreadlocks, chanting the praises of honor, justice and Emporer Haile Selassie.

Today reggae music is still huge all over the world. New artists are rising up from all corners of the world. From Germany, Gentleman is delivering sweet and sure melodies and uplifting words to huge audiences everywhere. Alborosie comes from Italy, Collie Buddz hails from New York, and the list goes on and on. Reggae is no longer a music just for Jamaicans, it is for the whole world.