Reggae is a music genre developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.

The term reggae is sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, although the word specifically indicates a particular music style that originated after the development of ska and rocksteady. Reggae is based on a rhythm style characterized by regular chops on the off-beat, known as the skank. The tempo is generally slower than that found in ska and rocksteady. Reggae is often associated with the Rastafari movement, which influenced many prominent reggae musicians in the 1970s and 1980s. Reggae song lyrics deal with many subjects, including faith, love, relationships, poverty, injustice and other broad social issues.

History

Reggae's origins are in traditional African and Caribbean music; American rhythm and blues; and in Jamaican ska and rocksteady.

The word reggae may have been first used by the ska band Toots and the Maytals, in the title of their 1968 rocksteady hit Do the Reggay. The Oxford English Dictionary says the origin of the word is unknown, but may be derived from the Jamaican-English word rege-rege, meaning quarrel. Other theories are that the word means torn clothes, that the term came from the word streggae (a Jamaican slang term for prostitute) or that it originated from the term Regga, which was a Bantu-speaking tribe from Lake Tanganyika.

By the mid 1970s, reggae was getting radio play in the United Kingdom on John Peel'sradio show, and Peel continued to play much reggae during his career.Reggae has always had a fairly large following in the United Kingdom,especially during the 1970s and 1980s. In the second half of the 1970s,the UK punk rock scene was starting to take off, and some punk DJs played reggae records during their DJ sets. Certain punk bands, such as The Clash, The Slits and The Ruts incorporated reggae influences into their music. Reggae includes several subgenres, such as, roots reggae, dub, lovers rock and dancehall.

[edit] Newer styles and spin-offs

The experimental pioneering of reggae producers within often-restrictive technological parameters gave birth to dub music, which has been considered one of the earliest contributions to the developments of techno music.

The toasting style first used by 1960s Jamaican artists such as U-Roy and Dennis Alcapone influenced Jamaican DJ Kool Herc, who used the style to pioneer a new genre that became known as hip hop or rap. In Jamaica, the term Deejay or DJ is equivalent to the rapper or MC in American hip hop culture, while it is the selector who actually mans the turntables. Mixing techniques employed in dub music have influenced hip hop and drum and bass.

The dancehall genre developed around 1980, with exponents such as Yellowman, Super Cat and Shabba Ranks. The style is characterized by a deejay singing and rapping or toasting over raw and fast rhythms. Ragga (also known as raggamuffin), is a subgenre of dancehall, in which the instrumentation primarily consists of electronic music and sampling. Reggaeton is a form of dance music that first became popular with Latino youths in the early 1990s. It blends reggae and dancehall with Latin American genres such as bomba and plena, as well with hip hop. Reggae rock is a fusion genre that combines elements of reggae and rock music. The bands Sublime and 311 are known for this reggae rock fusion, as is singer Matisyahu, a Hasidic Jew, who blends it with traditional Jewish music. Billboard magazine named him "Top Reggae Artist" of 2006.^[1]

Lyrical themes

Reggae is noted for its tradition of social criticism, although manyreggae songs discuss lighter, more personal subjects such as love, sexand socializing. Some reggae lyrics attempt to raise the politicalconsciousness of the audience, such as by criticizing materialism or by informing the listener about certain controversial subjects such as Apartheid. Many reggae songs promote the use of cannabis (also known as marijuana or ganja), which is considered a sacrament in the Rastafari movement.There are many artists and songs that utilize religious themes in theirmusic, whether it be discussing a religious topic or simply givingpraise to the Rastafari God Jah. Other socio-political topics in reggae songs include: black nationalism, anti-racism, anti-colonialism, anti-capitalism, criticism of political systems, and criticism of the colonial education system.

[edit] Roots reggae

Main article: Roots reggae

Roots reggae is the name given to a spiritual type of music whose lyrics are predominantly in praise of Jah (God). Recurrent lyrical themes include povertyand resistance to government oppression. Many of Bob Marley's and PeterTosh's songs can be called roots reggae. The creative pinnacle of rootsreggae was in the late 1970s, with singers such as Burning Spear, Gregory Isaacs, Freddie McGregor, Groundation ,Johnny Clarke, Horace Andy, Barrington Levy and Linval Thompson teaming up with studio producers including Lee 'Scratch' Perry and Coxsone Dodd.