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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
neighboring Caribbean islands such as Trinidad with its
calypso. Jamaica's music has become popular across much of
the world. Reggae's popularity 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. British styles
as Lovers rock and jungle also originate in Jamaican music.
Also See:
Junkanoo,
Mento
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 fulfill the local demand for
new music.
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.
Also See:
Rocksteady
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.
In the later
part of the 1970s, Brit 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.
Also See:
Dancehall
and Ragga
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.
Sources:
www.wikipedia.org |
