The Jamaican Music That Came Before Reggae

Before reggae took the world by storm, there was a rich musical tradition in Jamaica that laid the groundwork for the genre. From ska to rocksteady to early reggae, here’s a look at the Jamaican music that came before reggae.

Pre-Reggae Jamaican Music

Jamaican music has a long and storied past, with many different genres emerging from the island over the years. Reggae may be the most well-known, but it is far from the only style of music to come from Jamaica. Ska, rocksteady, and dub are just a few of the other genres that have their origins in Jamaica.

Ska

Ska is a genre of music that developed in Jamaica in the late 1950s. It is a precursor to reggae and rocksteady, and one of the earliest genres to use the now familiar ska beat. Ska music typically features a walking bass line played on the offbeat, horns, and guitar or piano. The lyrics often deal with social issues such as poverty, racism, and political corruption.

Ska was first popularized in Jamaica by Rastafarian musicians like Laurel Aitken and Buster Williams. It soon found its way to England, where it became adopted by skinheads and mods. The 2 Tone movement of the late 1970s and early 1980s revitalized interest in ska, and it has continued to be popular among Jamaican expatriates and white American teenagers ever since.

Rocksteady

Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor to ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was performed by Jamaican vocal harmony groups such as the Gaylads, the Maytals and the Paragons. The term rocksteady comes from a style of dance mentioned in the Alton Ellis song “Rock Steady”. At the time rocksteady was a slow version of ska characterized by heavy rhythms and vocal harmonies. Other elements, such as brass and guitar instrumentation, are similar to those found in R&B.

Rocksteady lightened the ska rhythm by slowing it down and focusing more on the offbeat than on the upbeat. This new sound influenced many subsequent Jamaican musical genres including roots reggae, dub, rub-a-dub, dancehall and particularly DJs or toasting which would have a big impact on Hip Hop music outside of Jamaica.

The Birth of Reggae

Reggae is a genre of music that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The word “reggae” is derived from the word “rumba”, which was a popular type of music in Jamaica at the time. Reggae is characterized by a laid-back, island sound and is often associated with the Rastafari movement. The first reggae song to become a hit was “Simmer Down”, released by The Wailers in 1964.

The Influences of Reggae

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 American jazz and rhythm and blues, especially the New Orleans R&B practiced by Fats Domino and Allen Toussaint. Reggae typically relates news, social gossip, and political comment.

The Pioneers of Reggae

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 originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.

The Golden Age of Reggae

Reggae music has its origins in the early 1960s, when the Jamaican music scene was booming. Ska, rocksteady, and mento were all popular genres at the time, and reggae was a natural evolution of these styles. Reggae became the dominant form of Jamaican music in the 1970s, and it has remained popular ever since. Let’s take a look at the history of reggae music in Jamaica.

The Rise of Reggae

During the ska era of the 1960s, many Jamaican musicians began to experiment with new sounds, melding ska with other genres like rocksteady, R&B, and African. This new style of music came to be known as reggae.

Reggae is characterized by a laid-back, rhythmic feel and often features a heavy bass line. The lyrics are sometimes political or religious in nature, and the genre often employscall-and-response vocals.

Reggae enjoyed a surge in popularity in the 1970s thanks in part to international stars like Bob Marley and his band, The Wailers. Marley’s trademark sound—a mix of reggae, ska, and rocksteady— helped bring the genre to a wider audience.

Today, reggae is enjoyed by music lovers all over the world and continues to evolve as new artists put their own spin on the sound.

The International Influence of Reggae

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 danceable music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.

Reggae has roots in earlier Jamaican genres such as mento and calypso, as well as in African music from Ghana and Nigeria, American R&B, doo-wop, soul, jazz, and gospel. Reggae developed its own accented rhythmic style of guitar chords often playing on the off-beat (staccato/murder) accompanied by bass guitar playing roots notes on the quarter-note upstroke (pulse), drumming emphasizing snare drums played on all four beats with heavy bass drum accents on off beats three (“foot threes”) giving reggae its distinctive sound as well as its focus on rhythmic groove. These sound elements were developed through African retention and modification of techniques introduced to Jamaica by Cuban musicians who arrived during efforts starting in 1884 to suppress slavery by isolating slaves on plantations with food incentives.