Reggae

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For other uses, see Reggae (disambiguation).

Reggae

Mento
Stylistic origins
Calypso

R&B

jazz

ska

rocksteady

soul

Cultural origins Late 1960s Jamaica, particularly Kingston

Derivative forms Dancehall

dub

hip hop

ragga

jungle

drum and bass

Subgenres

 Roots reggae

 lovers rock

 reggae en Español

(complete list)

Fusion genres

 Reggaeton

 reggae fusion

 seggae

 2 tone

 samba reggae

 reggaestep

Regional scenes
  Africa

 Australia

 Germany

 Guyana

 Japan

 New Zealand

 Nigeria

 Panama

 Philippines

 Poland

 Trinidad and Tobago

 United States

Other topics

 Music of Jamaica

 list of reggae musicians

Music of Jamaica

General topics

Related articles

Genres

 Dancehall

 Dub

 Dub poetry

 Kumina

 Lovers rock

 Mento

 Niyabinghi

 Raggamuffin

 Reggae
  Reggae fusion

 Rocksteady

 Roots reggae

 Ska

 Ska jazz

 Ska punk

 Sound systems

 Toasting

Nationalistic and patriotic songs

National anthem Jamaica, Land We Love

Regional music

 Anguilla

 Antigua and Barbuda

 Aruba and the Dutch Antilles

 Bahamas

 Barbados

 Belize

 Bermuda

 Bonaire

 Cayman Islands

 Cuba

 Costa Rica

 Curaçao

 Dominica

 Dominican Republic

 Grenada

 Guadeloupe

 Guyana

 Haiti

 Mauritius

 Martinique

 Montserrat

 Panama

 Puerto Rico
  St Kitts and Nevis

 St Lucia

 St Vincent and Grenadines

 Suriname

 Trinidad and Tobago

 Turks and Caicos

 Virgin Islands

 v

 t

 e

Reggae music of the Caribbean region

UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

Reggae artist Bob Marley in 1980

Country Jamaica

Reference 01398

Region The Caribbean

 Inscription history

Inscription 2018

Reggae (/ˈrɛɡeɪ/) 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.[1] 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.[2][3] 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
American jazz and rhythm and blues, especially the New Orleans R&B practiced
by Fats Domino and Allen Toussaint, and evolved out of the earlier
genres ska and rocksteady.[4] Reggae usually relates news, social gossip, and
political commentary. Reggae spread into a commercialized jazz field, being known
first as "rudie blues", then "ska", later "blue beat", and "rock steady". [5] 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.[6]
Reggae is deeply linked to Rastafari, an Afrocentric religion which developed in
Jamaica in the 1930s, aiming at promoting Pan Africanism.[7][8][9] Soon after
the Rastafarian movement appeared, the international popularity of reggae music
became associated with and increased the visibility of Rastafarianism spreading
the Rastafari gospel throughout the world.[8] Reggae music is an important means
of transporting vital messages of Rastafarianism. The musician becomes the
messenger, and as Rastafarians see it, "the soldier and the musician are tools for
change."[10]
Stylistically, reggae incorporates some of the musical elements of rhythm and
blues, jazz, mento (a celebratory, rural folk form that served its largely rural
audience as dance music and an alternative to the hymns and adapted chanteys of
local church singing),[11] calypso,[12] and also draws influence from traditional African
folk rhythms. One of the most easily recognizable elements is offbeat rhythms;
staccato chords played by a guitar or piano (or both) on the offbeats of the
measure. The tempo of reggae is usually slower paced than both ska and
rocksteady.[13] The concept of call and response can be found throughout reggae
music. The genre of reggae music is led by the drum and bass. [14][15] Some key
players in this sound are Jackie Jackson from Toots and the Maytals,[16] Carlton
Barrett from Bob Marley and the Wailers,[17] Lloyd Brevett from The Skatalites,
[18]
 Paul Douglas from Toots and the Maytals,[19] Lloyd Knibb from The Skatalites,
[20]
 Winston Grennan,[21] Sly Dunbar,[22] and Anthony "Benbow" Creary from The
Upsetters.[23] The bass guitar often plays the dominant role in reggae. The bass
sound in reggae is thick and heavy, and equalized so the upper frequencies are
removed and the lower frequencies emphasized. The guitar in reggae usually plays
on the offbeat of the rhythm. It is common for reggae to be sung in Jamaican
 Patois, Jamaican English, and Iyaric dialects. Reggae is noted for its tradition of
social criticism and religion in its lyrics,[24] although many reggae songs discuss
lighter, more personal subjects, such as love and socializing.
Reggae has spread to many countries across the world, often incorporating local
instruments and fusing with other genres. Reggae en Español spread from the
Spanish-speaking Central American country of Panama to the mainland South
American countries of Venezuela and Guyana then to the rest of South
America. Caribbean music in the United Kingdom, including reggae, has been
popular since the late 1960s, and has evolved into several subgenres and fusions.
Many reggae artists began their careers in the UK, and there have been a number
of European artists and bands drawing their inspiration directly from Jamaica and
the Caribbean community in Europe. Reggae in Africa was boosted by the visit
of Bob Marley to Zimbabwe in 1980. In Jamaica, authentic reggae is one of the
biggest sources of income.[25]

Contents

 1Etymology
 2History
o 2.1Precursors
o 2.2Emergence in Jamaica
o 2.3International popularity
o 2.4Reggae heritage
 3Musical characteristics
o 3.1Drums and other percussion
o 3.2Bass
o 3.3Guitars
o 3.4Keyboards
o 3.5Horns
o 3.6Vocals
 3.6.1Lyrical themes
 3.6.2Criticism of dancehall and reggae lyrics
 4Global significance
o 4.1Americas
o 4.2Europe
o 4.3Africa
o 4.4Asia and the Pacific
o 4.5Australia and New Zealand
 5Cod reggae
 6See also
 7References
 8Bibliography
 9Further reading
 10External links
Etymology[edit]
The 1967 edition of the Dictionary of Jamaican English lists reggae as "a recently
estab. sp. for rege", as in rege-rege, a word that can mean either "rags, ragged
clothing" or "a quarrel, a row".[26] Reggae as a musical term first appeared in print
with the 1968 rocksteady hit "Do the Reggay" by The Maytals which named the
genre of Reggae for the world.
Reggae historian Steve Barrow credits Clancy Eccles with altering the Jamaican
patois word streggae (loose woman) into reggae.[27] However, Toots Hibbert said:
There's a word we used to use in Jamaica called 'streggae'. If a girl is walking and
the guys look at her and say 'Man, she's streggae' it means she don't dress well,
she look raggedy. The girls would say that about the men too. This one morning
me and my two friends were playing and I said, 'OK man, let's do the reggay.' It
was just something that came out of my mouth. So we just start singing 'Do the
reggay, do the reggay' and created a beat. People tell me later that we had given
the sound its name. Before that people had called it blue-beat and all kind of other
things. Now it's in the Guinness World of Records.[28]
Bob Marley claimed that the word reggae came from a Spanish term for "the king's
music".[29] The liner notes of To the King, a compilation of Christian gospel reggae,
suggest that the word reggae was derived from the Latin regi meaning "to the
king".[30]

History