Music of Jamaica
Jamaica is known as the birthplace of many popular
musical genres including
raggamuffin,
ska,
reggae and
dub. Jamaica's
music culture is a fusion of elements from the
United States of America with its
R&B,
rock and roll,
soul,
Africa and neighbouring
Caribbean islands such as
Trinidad with its
calypso. Jamaica's music has become popular across much of the world. Reggae is especially popular through the international fame of
Bob Marley. Jamaican music has also had an effect on the musical development of other countries, such as the practice of
toasting, which was brought to
New York City and became
rapping, one of the four elements of
hip hop culture. British styles as
Lovers rock and
jungle also originate in Jamaican music.
Junkanoo, (a type of
folk music now more closely associated with
The Bahamas), the
quadrille (a
European dance) and
work songs were the primary forms of Jamaican music at the beginning of the
20th century. These were synthesized into
mento music, which spread across the island. Mento was the first style of Jamaican music to be recorded.
Mento was recorded in the
1950s due to the efforts of Stanley Motta, who noted the similarities between Jamaican folk and
Trinidadian
calypso, which was currently finding international audiences. While mento never found a large international audience as calypso had, some of these recordings, such as by
Count Lasher,
Lord Composer and
George Moxey, are now widely-respected legends of Jamaican music. Though it has largely been supplanted by successors like reggae and dub, mento is still performed, recorded, and released internationally by traditionalist performers like the
Jolly Boys.
In
Kingston mobile
sound systems began to grow up in the late forties who would play American hits. Some of the major figures of the Jamaican music scene came to the fore in association with sound systems during this period, including
Duke Reid and
Sir Coxsone. In
1958 due to a shortage of new material the first local
R&B bands, most influentially
Joe Higgs and
Roy Wilson, began recording to fulfil the local demand for new music.
By 1964, a distinctive Jamaican music had sprung up based around the sound systems called
ska, which was fast and danceable. Perhaps the best-known of the original ska wave were
The Skatalites, whose career spanned decades. At first primarily instrumental, ska's rhythms generally didn't lend well to vocal stylings, though some popular artists such as
The Maytals and
The Wailers got their start by singing in this style.
Some of ska's fans were "
rude boys", the local name for gangsters and petty thieves. Rude boys were anything from fashionable poseurs to hard-edged, violent and misogynist thugs with nothing to lose in Jamaica's post-independence economic depression. Rude boys brought controversy to the ska scene and scorn from the island's white middle- and upper-classes. The rude boys also garnered attention from politicians, who promised protection, gifts of weapons or other incentives to harness their political support or to employ them as thugs.
Along with the meteoric rise of ska came the popularity of
DJs like
Sir Lord Comic,
King Stitt and pioneer
Count Matchuki, who began talking stylistically over the rhythms of popular songs at sound systems. In Jamaican music, the DJ is the one who talks (known elsewhere as the
MC) and the
selector is the person who chooses the records. The popularity of DJs as an essential component of the sound system created a need for instrumental songs, as well as instrumental versions of popular vocal songs. From this arose the
dub, originally an instrumental version of a vocal song, with the vocal version on the A-side and the dub on the B-side of a single. This trend began the development of dub music as a distinct genre, popular in its own right.
Chris Blackwell's
Island Records became the biggest label promoting Jamaican music to the international market. Due to affiliation with the record industry in the UK and
First world funding, Island had the distribution to vastly increase exposure of reggae to the global pop market, especially in the UK where a significant population of Jamaican immigrants had relocated for economic opportunities not available at home. Blackwell's stable of artists included
Millie Small, singer of the first major Jamaican music UK radio hit,
1964's "My Boy Lollipop."
Ska's popularity grew steadily in Jamaica, alongside Rastafarianism, which spread rapidly in impoverished urban areas and among the often politically radical music scene. The lyrics of ska songs began to focus on Rastafarian themes; slower beats and chants entered the music from religious Rastafarian music, and ska soon evolved into
rocksteady.
Rocksteady was the music of Jamaica's rude boys by the mid-
1960s, when
The Wailers and
The Clarendonians dominated the charts, taking over from pioneers like
Alton Ellis (who is often said to have invented rocksteady).
Desmond Dekker's "007" brought international attention to the new urban beat. The mix put heavy emphasis on the bass line, as opposed to ska's strong horn section, and the
rhythm guitar began playing on the up-beat. Session musicians like
Supersonics,
Soul Vendors,
Jets and, most influentially,
Jackie Mittoo (of the Skatalites) became legends during this period.
In the late
1960s, producers like
King Tubby and
Lee Perry began stripping the vocals away from tracks recorded for sound system parties. With the bare beats and bass playing and the lead instruments dropping in and out of the mix, DJs began
toasting, or delivering humorous and often obscene jabs at fellow DJs and local celebrities. Over time, toasting became an increasingly complex activity, and became as big a draw as the dance beats played behind it. In the early
1970s, DJs such as
DJ Kool Herc took the practice of toasting to
New York, where it became a part of
rapping.
By the early
1970s, rocksteady had evolved into
reggae music. The style of music at the time is retroactively termed
roots reggae and combines the influence of American
soul music and the traditional shuffle and
one-drop of Jamaican
mento. Reggae quickly became one of the most popular forms of music in the world, due in large part to the immense international success of
Bob Marley & the Wailers. Marley himself was viewed as a Rastafarian messianic figure by some fans, particularly throughout the
Caribbean,
Africa, and among
Native Americans and
Australian Aborigines. His lyrics on love, redemption and natural beauty captivated audiences, and he gained headlines for negotiating truces between rival gangs and, later, two violently warring Jamaican political parties (at the
One Love Concert), led by
Michael Manley (
PNP) and
Edward Seaga (
JLP). Reggae music was intricately tied to the expansion of Rastafarian religion with its principles of
pacifism,
Zionism, and
pan-Africanism. Musicians like
Gregory Isaacs,
The Congos and
Burning Spear and producers like
Lee "Scratch" Perry solidified the early sound of reggae.
By
1973,
dub music had emerged as a distinct reggae sub-genre and heralded the dawn of the
remix. Most influentially invented by record producers Lee Perry and
King Tubby, dub featured previously recorded songs remixed with prominence on the bass. Often the lead instruments and vocals would drop in and out of the mix, sometimes processed heavily with studio effects. King Tubby's advantage came from his intimate knowledge with audio gear, and his ability to build his own sound systems and recording studios that were superior to the competition. He became famous for his remixes of recordings made by others as well as those he recorded in his own studio.
Following in Tubby's footsteps came pioneers, beginning with
U-Roy, and then
Big Youth, who used Rasta chants in songs. Until the end of the 70s, Big Youth-inspired dub with chanted vocals dominated Jamaican pop. At the very end of the decade,
dancehall like
Ranking Joe,
Lone Ranger and
General Echo brought a return to U-Roy's style.
Other popular music forms that arose during the period include:
*Briton
Linton Kwesi Johnson's
dub poetry*
Sly & Robbie's
rockers reggae, which drew on
Augustus Pablo's
melodica playing became popular with a stable of artists including
The Mighty Diamonds and
The Gladiators.
*
Joe Gibbs' mellower rockers reggae, including
Culture and
Dennis Brown*
Burning Spear's distinctive style made him an enduring star. Some of his albums continue to rank as the most influential in history, such as
Marcus Garvey and
Man in the Hills.*Harmonic, spiritually oriented Rastas like
The Abyssinians,
Black Uhuru and
Third WorldIn the later part of the
1970s, Briton
Louisa Marks had a hit with "Caught You in a Lie" (
1975 in music), beginning a trend of British performers making romantic, ballad-oriented reggae called
lovers rock.
During the
1980s, the most popular muscially related entertainment styles in Jamaica were
dancehall and
ragga. 'Dancehall' is essentially speechifying with musical accompaniment including a basic rock drum beat (more often played on electric drums rather than acoustic) and pop lyrics rather than the former political and spiritual lyrics popular in the 1970s.
Ragga is characterized by the use of computerized beats and sequenced melodic tracks. Ragga is usually said to have been invented with "(Under Me)
Sleng Teng" by
Wayne Smith (
1985 in music). Ragga barely edged out dancehall as the dominant form of Jamaican popular entertainment in the 1980s. DJ
Shabba Ranks and vocalist team
Chaka Demus and Pliers proved more enduring than the competition, and helped inspire an updated version of the rudeboy culture called
raggamuffin. Dancehall was sometimes violent in lyrical content, and several rival performers made headlines with their feuds across Jamaica (most notably
Beenie Man vs
Bounty Killer). Dancehall emerged from pioneering recordings in the late 1970s by
Barrington Levy with
Roots Radics backing and
Junjo Lawes as producer. The
Roots Radics were the pre-eminent backing band for dancehall style.
Yellowman,
Ini Kamoze,
Charlie Chaplin and
General Echo helped popularize the style along with producers like
Sugar Minott.
The 1980s saw a rise in reggae music from outside of Jamaica. The UK has long been a hotbed of Jamaican culture in exile, due to a large number of Jamaican immigrants seeking economic betterment. Reggae and ska influenced American and British
punk bands of the 1970s and 1980s, such as
The Clash,
Elvis Costello and the Attractions,
The Police,
The Slits, and
Nina Hagen. Bands including
The Specials and
Madness became popular with the British ska revival called
two tone. During this time, reggae particularly influenced
African popular music, where
Sonny Okusuns (Nigeria),
John Chibadura (Zimbabwe),
Lucky Dube (South Africa) and
Alpha Blondy (Ivory Coast) became stars.
The 1980s also saw the end of the dub era in Jamaica, though dub has remained a popular and influential style in the UK and to a lesser extent throughout Europe and the US. Dub in the 1980s and 1990s has merged with
electronic music for a mingling of styles.
Variations of dancehall continued in popularity into the mid-
1990s. Some of the most violent performers of the previous decade converted to Rastafarianism or otherwise changed their lyrical contents. Artists like
Buju Banton (
Till Shiloh) experienced significant crossover success in foreign markets, while Beenie Man, Bounty Killer and others developed a sizable American following due to their frequent guesting on albums by
gangsta rappers like
Wu-Tang Clan and
Jay-Z. Some ragga musicians, including Beenie Man, Shabba Ranks and
Capleton, publicly converted to a new style of conscious music-making. Other trends included the minimalist digital tracks which began with
Dave Kelly's "Pepper Seed" in
1995, alongside the return of love balladeers like
Beres Hammond.
American
punk ska bands like
No Doubt,
Mighty, Mighty Bosstones and
Sublime became popular in the mid-1990s influenced by 1980s pioneers like
Operation Ivy. American, British, and
European electronic musicians used reggae-oriented beats to create further hybrid electronic music styles. Dub,
world music, and
electronic music continue to intertwine, influence each other, and create new sub-genres into the 2000s.
The
Bongo Nation is a distinct group of Jamaicans descended from indentured servants. They are known for
Kumina, which refers to both a
religion and a form of
music. Kumina's distinctive drumming style became one of the roots of Rastafarian drumming, itself the source of the distinctive Jamaican rhythm heard in ska, rocksteady and reggae.
The modern intertwining of Jamaican religion and music can be traced back to the
1860s, when the
Pocomania and
Revival Zion churches drew on
African and
Christian traditions and incorporated music into almost every facet of
worship. Later, this trend spread into
Hindu communities, made up of the many
coolies (ethnic
Indians on the island), resulting in
baccra music. The spread of Rastafarianism into urban Jamaica in the
1960s transformed the Jamaican music scene, which incorporated
nyabhingi drumming, played at
grounation ceremonies into popular music.
*Mthembu-Salter, Gregory and Peter Dalton. "The Loudest Island in the World". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.),
World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 430-456. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
*Mthembu-Salter, Gregory and Peter Dalton. "Lovers and Poets -- Babylon Sounds". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.),
World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 457-462. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
*O'Brien Chang, Kevin and Wayne Chen.
Reggae Routes: The Story of Jamaican Music. Temple University Press. Philadelphia.
*Jahn, Brian and Tom Weber.
Reggae Island: Jamaican Music in the Digital Age. Da Capo Press. Kingston. ISBN 0-306-80853-6
* Pogus Caesar photographs of Jamaican singers, producers, dj's - Muzik Kinda Sweet exhibition http://www.oomgallery.net/gallery.asp?location=6&c=251
*
Jamaica Guide - Reggae - Reggae article on a site with articles on Reggae, Ska, Rocksteady, and other Jamaican music
*
origin of mento and baccra
