The Best Reggae Music on YouTube
The Best Reggae Music is a YouTube channel that delivers the hottest reggae tunes straight to your speakers. updated weekly, this channel is perfect for anyone who loves reggae music.
Best Reggae Songs
Reggae music has been around for decades and it’s still as popular as ever. If you’re a fan of reggae music, then you’re in luck. We’ve compiled a list of the best reggae songs on YouTube. From classic tracks to new hits, there’s something for everyone.
“No Woman, No Cry” by Bob Marley
“No Woman, No Cry” is a song by Bob Marley and the Wailers. The song was released on the album Natty Dread in 1974. The song is about a woman named Violet who was Marley’s girlfriend at the time. The lyrics are written in the form of a letter from Marley to Violet, telling her not to cry because everything will be all right.
The song became one of Marley’s most popular songs, and is considered one of the greatest reggae songs of all time. It has been covered by many artists, including Lauryn Hill, who won a Grammy Award for her version of the song.
“One Love” by Bob Marley
“One Love” is a song recorded by Bob Marley and the Wailers. It was released in 1977 as a single from the album Exodus and became an international hit. The song has been covered by many artists, including U2, Eric Clapton, and Blues Traveler.
“Could You Be Loved” by Bob Marley
This song was released in 1980 on Bob Marley’s album Uprising and quickly became one of his most popular songs. The lyrics are about love and unity, and the music video features Marley performing with his band in Jamaica.
“Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley
“Three Little Birds” is a song by Bob Marley and the Wailers. It is the fourth track on Side Two of their 1977 album Exodus and was released as a single in 1980. The song reached the Top 20 in the UK, peaking at number 17. It became one of Bob Marley’s most popular songs.
“I Shot the Sheriff” by Bob Marley
“I Shot the Sheriff” is a song written by Bob Marley and first released on The Wailers’ 1974 album Burnin’. In August, 1974, it was released as a single by The Wailers, reaching the number one position in the Canadian RPM chart and the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart. Eric Clapton recorded his own version of the song that became successful in charts; his cover was awarded the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1975.
Best Reggae Albums
There are many great reggae albums out there, but these are some of the best. Every album on this list is worth listening to, and they are in no particular order.
Legend by Bob Marley
This is the album that made Bob Marley a reggae legend. Recorded in 1975, Legend includes some of Marley’s most well-known songs, including “No Woman, No Cry,” “Get Up, Stand Up,” and “I Shot the Sheriff.” The album was re-released in 1984 and again in 2001, with additional tracks.
Exodus by Bob Marley
Exodus is the ninth studio album by Jamaican reggae band Bob Marley and the Wailers, first released in June 1977. It is one of Marley’s best-known works, and was named album of the year by Time magazine. Praised by critics as a masterpiece, Exodus peaked at No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart and number thirty-six on the US Billboard 200.
Survival by Bob Marley
It is the album that cemented Marley’s reputation internationally as a reggae legend. Released in 1979, it features some of Marley’s best-known songs, including “Zimbabwe,” “So Much Trouble in the World,” and of course the anthemic title track.
Catch a Fire by Bob Marley
Catch a Fire is the fifth studio album by Bob Marley and the Wailers, released in April 1973. It was their first album with Island Records. The album was Burning Spear’s second album with the Wailers, and established Marley as the band’s leader.
The tracks on Catch a Fire were recorded in two sessions in 1972 at Dynamic Sound Studios in Kingston and Wally’s Mecca in Miami Beach, Florida. The latter sessions, which took place after the majority of the basic tracks had been cut in Kingston, were supervised by Lee “Scratch” Perry and included overdubbing, remixing, and additional instrumentation. The Miami sessions were necessary because the Wailers were not satisfied with the initial results from Kingston.
The album’s title refers to the Wailers’ struggle to gain international recognition and to Marley’s personal struggles with poverty and violence. The artwork for the album was designed by having each band member light a match and then drip wax onto a canvas; the resultant images were then used as the basis for illustrations by Tony Wright.
Catch a Fire was well received by critics upon its release and is widely regarded as one of Bob Marley’s finest albums. In 2003, it was ranked number 374 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2012, it was ranked number 208 on Pitchfork Media’s list of The Top 200 Albums of All Time: 1980–2012.
Burnin’ by Bob Marley
Burnin’ is the sixth studio album by Jamaican reggae band Bob Marley and the Wailers, released in October 1973. It was written almost entirely by bandleader Bob Marley and produced by Chris Blackwell. A commercial and critical success in the United States, Burnin’ was certified Gold and later Platinum in 1988 by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Best Reggae Artists
Reggae is a genre of music that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The style is characterized by a strong rhythmic underpinning, offbeat accents, and a distinctive vocal style. Reggae has been a major influence on other genres of music, including rock, pop, and hip-hop. Here are some of the best reggae artists on YouTube.
Bob Marley
There are a ton of great reggae artists out there, but one name always seems to rise to the top: Bob Marley. His unique sound and style has influenced countless artists and helped bring reggae music to a global audience. Marley’s songs are timeless classics that are still widely appreciated today. If you’re looking for the best of the best when it comes to reggae music, Bob Marley is definitely an artist that you need to check out.
Peter Tosh
Peter Tosh, born Winston Hubert McIntosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician who was a core member of The Wailers (1963–1974) and who subsequently established himself as a successful solo artist and a promoter of Rastafari. McIntosh attended Stepney Primary and Junior High School. He took on the stage name “Peter Tosh” when he joined vocalist Bunny Wailer to form The Wailers in 1962.
Tosh helped found Third World, a peace and human rights-themed organization. In 1976, he was arrested for “attempted ganja smoking” in Kingston. Jamaica later repealed itsmarijuana laws in 2015.
During his solo career, Tosh made political statements in songs such as “‘Equal Rights'”, “‘African’,” and his signature song, “Get Up, Stand Up”. He also became an advocate for individual rights which were detailed in songs such as “Stepping Razor”. Peter Tosh was posthumously inducted into the International Reggae And World Music Awards Hall Of Fame in 2011.
Bunny Wailer
Bunny Wailer, born Neville O’Riley Livingston, is a singer songwriter and percussionist and was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. A three-time Grammy award winner, he is considered one of the longtime standard-bearers of reggae music.
Wailer began to pursue a solo career in 1971, releasing his debut album Blackheart Man. He has since released 12 studio albums, including Solomonic Singles 1: Tread Along 1969-1976 in 2016, which won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album. His latest album, Blessed Love, was released in 2018.
Burning Spear
Burning Spear, born Winston Rodney, is a Jamaican reggae singer and musician. Burning Spear is a Rastafarian and one of the most influential and respected artists in reggae music. His music is deeply rooted in the Rastafarian faith and culture, and his lyrics are often politically and socially conscious. Burning Spear has been active in the music industry since the 1970s, and his work has been hugely influential in the development of reggae music.
Lee “Scratch” Perry
Lee “Scratch” Perry (born Rainford Hugh Perry, 20 March 1936) is a Jamaican music producer, inventor, and singer noted for his innovative studio techniques and production style. Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s development of dub music with his early adoption of mixing console Equalization and Audio effects to create new instrumental or vocal versions of existing Reggae tracks. He has worked with and produced for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Marley and the Wailers, Junior Murvin, The Congos, Max Romeo, Adrian Sherwood, Ari Up. Perry was inducted into the Rolling Stone Magazine’s Hall of Fame.
Perry was born in Kendal, Jamaica. His mother ran a bakery and his father was a electronics technician who influenced Lee’s musical development from an early age. At eighteen he moved to Kingston where he began working as an assistant to Clement Coxsone Dodd at Studio One and eventually became Dodd’s sound engineer. It is claimed that he helped to invent the “skanking” beat that characterised much early reggae music; however this claim came from Perry himself in an interview many years after the fact and needs to be treated with caution given his penchant for tall stories and self-aggrandisement.
