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 the word reggae, effectively naming the genre and introducing it to a global audience. While sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to most types of popular Jamaican dance music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that was strongly influenced by traditional mento as well as by American jazz and rhythm and blues, and evolved out of the earlier genres ska and rocksteady. Reggae usually relates news, social gossip, and political commentary. It is instantly recognizable from the counterpoint between the bass and drum downbeat and the offbeat rhythm section. The immediate origins of reggae were in ska and rocksteady; from the latter, reggae took over the use of the bass as a percussion instrument.
Raggamuffin music is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music with heavy use of sampling.
The music of Jamaica includes Jamaican folk music and many popular genres, such as mento, ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub music, dancehall, reggae fusion and related styles.
Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish reggae, including harmony groups such as the Techniques, the Paragons, the Heptones and the Gaylads; soulful singers such as Alton Ellis, Delroy Wilson, Bob Andy, Ken Boothe and Phyllis Dillon; musicians such as Jackie Mittoo, Lynn Taitt and Tommy McCook. The term rocksteady comes from a popular (slower) dance style mentioned in the Alton Ellis song "Rocksteady", that matched the new sound. Some rocksteady songs became hits outside Jamaica, as with ska, helping to secure the international base reggae music has today.
There are several subgenres of reggae music including various predecessors to the form.
Common Rider was an American ska punk band, formed in 1999 by Jesse Michaels, Mass Giorgini (bass) and Dan Lumley (drums). The band's name is taken from a Japanese TV show, Kamen Rider
The Mad Caddies is an American ska punk band from Solvang, California. The band formed in 1995 and has released seven full-length albums, one live album, and two EPs. To date, Mad Caddies have sold over 500,000 albums worldwide.
Free from Sin is a 1979 reggae album by Prince Far I. It was produced by Prince Far I and engineered by Sylvan Morris & Errol Brown.
Fokofpolisiekar is an Afrikaans alternative rock band from Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. Due to the obscenity in the name, they are also commonly known simply as Polisiekar or FPK.
The Gladiators are a Jamaican roots reggae band, most popular during the 1970s. The core was Albert Griffiths, Clinton Fearon and Gallimore Sutherland. Their two most famous albums are Trenchtown Mix Up (1976) and Proverbial Reggae (1978) with songs such as "Hearsay", "Jah Works", "Dreadlocks the Time is Now". "Mix Up", "Music Makers from Jamaica", and "Soul Rebel" – a song written by The Wailers. Gladiators also cooperated with the toaster U-Roy.
Ruder Than You is an American ska band that was founded in 1989 at Penn State University and, in 1991, the group relocated to Philadelphia. While ska and reggae stylings have always provided the common musical thread, over the past 15 plus years Ruder Than You has been mixing in dancehall, hip hop, rocksteady, and rub-a-dub – even adding elements of funk, jazz, and punk.
Hail H.I.M. is a studio album by the Jamaican musician Burning Spear, released in 1980. He supported the album with a North American tour.
Earl "Chinna" Smith, a.k.a. Earl Flute and Melchezidek the High Priest, is a Jamaican guitarist active since the late 1960s. He is most well known for his work with the Soul Syndicate band and as guitarist for Bob Marley & the Wailers, among others, and has recorded with many reggae artists, appearing on more than 500 albums.
Captain Stu was a South African ska band. The band developed their signature style in the Cape Town ska scene, combining elements of jazz and reggae with South African influences to create an upbeat sound reflecting the atmosphere of Cape Town.
Reggae is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. Australia has several bands and sound systems that play reggae music in a style faithful to its expression in Jamaica. Australia has a relatively small Jamaican community, but reggae penetrated local consciousness via the popularity of reggae among the non-Jamaican population of England in the 1960s and 1970s. Many indigenous musicians have embraced reggae, both for its musical qualities and its ethos of resistance. Examples include Mantaka, No Fixed Address, Zennith and Coloured Stone.
Errol Holt, also known as Errol Carter and by his nickname Flabba, is a Jamaican bass guitar player and a singer who was a member of The Morwells and the Roots Radics and has played on hundreds of Jamaican albums.
Tony Tuff is a reggae singer who was a member of The African Brothers in the late 1960s and 1970s before embarking on a solo career.
Fuzigish is a South african ska punk band from Gauteng, South Africa, established in 1997. They are noted for their high energy performances and have released five full-length albums and one compilation since their inception. The band retain a strong DIY ethos, having released all their albums independently through their own Red Ambulance record label, as well as setting up Punk Safari, their own touring company.
Kingston Rudieska(킹스턴 루디스카) is a nine-piece South Korean ska band formed in 2004. Their sound is mainly influenced by first-wave Jamaican ska, as well as other Caribbean genres including reggae and calypso music. They are heavily influenced by the Skatalites and frequently perform Skatalites covers. Many of the members are jazz musicians, and their sound is heavily influenced by ska jazz, with band members frequently performing solos during performances.
Half Price is a punk rock band from Cape Town, South Africa established in 2001. They are identified by energetic performances and released 3 full-length albums, two EP's, a compilation album, and a split album since their inception. The band have always maintained a DIY ethos, remaining independent until 2016 when they became the first South African punk band to sign with an American digital record label, Punk Outlaw Records.
