Reggae is a genre of music that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. It is known for the heavy and strong emphasis on the bass within the background beat. Reggae was perceived as a kind of music used to express feelings about the social, political, and economic hardships in Jamaica during the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was performed by musicians from black ghettos who used unhurried beats to make a style of music of their own. Reggae became an important part of the lifestyle of many Caribbean islanders; expressing a sense of pride of their Caribbean culture.
Reggae was developed from ska and rocky steady. Ska consisted of elements of Caribbean and mento, calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. It is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the upbeat. Rocky steady used musical elements such as jazz, r&b, African and Latin drumming and other genres. It is noticeable by the counted offbeats with a slow tempo. A Reggae beat is most distinguishable by having a slow tempo, bass beat within the background with an uptempo beat over it. If you count 1 2 3 4 to the beats, the instruments accent is played on the offbeats; giving it a relaxed sound. Reggae music consists of a relatively small variety of instruments because of its distinct sound. Bass drums, drum symbols, and guitars are the most common instruments used to play reggae songs. Bongos are used to play broken patterns with the usage of African style rhythms.
An important factor to understanding Reggae music is having knowledge about the history of Jamaica. In 1962, Jamaica gained its independence from the British. Around that time, Reggae music began to become prominent within the music industry. The most important form of reggae...
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...lands. The music is an important aspect of the many cultures in and outside of the Caribbean. It instills different moods into people and comes in various styles. It has been used to express oppression and joy. No matter how people make or hear Reggae music; it will be a distinct sound to lure their feelings towards the culture.
Works Cited
Bays, Barry, P. Renee Foster, and Stephen King. Reggae, Rastafari, and the Rhetoric of Social Control. University Press of Mississippi. United States of America. 2002.
Chang, Kevin O' Brian, and Wayne Chen. Reggae Routes. Temple University Press. Philadelphia.1998
Jahn, Brian and Tom Weber. Reggae Island. Da Capo Press, Inc. New York. 1998
Latin Pulse Music, Inc. n.p. 2006-2011. Web. 2 April 2012.
Sarno, Alberto, Sarno, Marcello. Reggaeton in Cuba. 2007. Sprachcaffe Sprachreisen.Web. 10 March 2012.
Jamaica is a tropical island, located in the heart of the Caribbean Sea. Around the coastlines are beautiful beaches with crystal clear blue-green water. In some respects, this is the majority of what people know about Jamaica. In this orientation text you will better understand Jamaica’s history, the people who live there, the many different religions, geography, and governments that have ruled the land.
However, it seems as though the impossible is possible, or at least mostly possible, and traditional Rastafarianism enforces rules and cultural norms that keep womyn in the subordinate, domesticated realm of everyday life. Yet, in the last thirty years or so, those rules and norms have been slowly challenged by a new generation of Rastafarian womyn who no longer accept their inferior position and are demanding greater equality. These womyn, some of whom turn to reggae to promote their own socially conscious ideas, symbolize the growing consciousness of womyn in Jamaica and other majority world countries who have experienced centuries of oppression.
The impact of Mob Marley’s songs remains great examples of the way Rastafarian ideologies and beliefs have been capable of breaking down barriers that had at one time separated a society from a culturally established religion. His song “Smile Jamaica” was immensely moving because it was created for a concert to bring people together no matter the political party they represented. Jammin’ was also made for the same purpose but was more in depth about how political violence was causing division and tension amongst society. Bob Marley use proverbs and Jamaican folklore in his song “Rat Race” to describe political corruption. In addition his song, Get up, Stand up was made to empower people to make peace and stand up for their rights. All together Rasta’s have demonstrated a successful revolution by resisting the dominant ideas and beliefs.
Rhythm is the pattern of music. It is one of the key characteristics to define music as what it is. Rhythm is valuable, and in both Cuban and West-African music, it is one of the most crucial parts of their music. Cuban music can be separated into many different sub-categories, one of them being the Son Cubano, a type of music that originated in Cuba, and is heavily influenced by African music. Son music has very few characteristics that fully developed by itself; the music has strong hints of Spanish guitar, melody, monophony and lyrical translation with African percussion and rhythms, all merged together to show that the music had developed traits that it had borrowed from other cultures, mainly Africa. This clearly demonstrates the distinct similarities between these two nations, and how one adapted a part of the others music. Another interrelation is how both culture's music is quite simple; no complex harmonies or complicated reading of music, but with decidedly trickier rhythms. In West-Cuban music, they have an element called polyrhythm, which means multiple or opposing rhythmic patterns played at the same time. Usually, there are multiple drummers to play the separate parts, so in the end it c...
Reggae The Story Of Jamaican Music BBC Documentary. vols., 2012. Online. Internet. 22 Mar. 2014. . Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv1Iy26qlLk&feature=youtube_gdata_player.
...ds, ‘Boleros’, Dominican merengue and more recently, modern genres favored by youth, such as Rap and Reggaeton. This last one, originated in Puerto Rico and rapidly became popular worldwide. Puerto Rican music has had and still has a projection with internationally renowned artists, while still developing through educational institutions and programs that promote it.
Wilson, Basil “The politics & culture of Reggae music” The Caribbean-American Magazine v. 24 N. 1 p. 25, 2/28/2000
The lyrics of dancehall reggae music in Jamaica seem to encourage the taunting and violence towards homosexuals. Of course it is normal for most reggae songs to deal with the social concerns and religious beliefs of Jamaicans because it is a big representation of the Jamaican culture. Homosexuals are looked down upon as outcasts because of their sexuality. Homop...
Marcus Garvey’s Legend, its Influence, Accomplishments, and Effects on the Rastafarian Movement and Reggae Musicians
There are several possible explanations for the rapid growth of Rastafari. One major factor in its expansion was the emergence in the late 1960s of reggae music, a derivative of American rhythm and blues and Jamaican ska. Reggae helped spread the philosophy of Rastafari to the wider Jamaican audience and the world. During that period of time, Bob Marley and the Wailers were the principal popularizers of reggae.
Although there is a variety of music that could be examined to trace its evolution through time, there is one genre in particular that is quite interesting to examine. Though it differs from other types of music, it will be looked at in conjunction with Reggae music as they have similar ties. Reggae music is quite prominent today in the United States, parts of Africa, and of course Jamaica. Reggae is notoriously known for its most influential artist Bob Marley, and it is not unusual for one to have heard a few, if not many of his songs. Reggae’s popularity is steadily increasing and is doing so through both expansions of the music as well as increasing knowledge on the genre.
Situated just south of Cuba in the Caribbean Sea, Jamaica is well known as a popular tourist spot and the birthplace of reggae music. Populated initially by native Arawak Indians, who gave the island its name, “land of wood and water (Jamaica).” However, this beautiful land’s almost pristine beauty was shattered by outbursts of violence surrounding the 1980 political elections. This fighting was sparked by the people’s mistrust of the ruling socialist party at the time. The reasons for this fighting and this mistrust are not simple, they are intrinsically tied to the island nation’s history from the beginning of its colonial period five hundred years before.
Marley was born into Jamaica’s poverty and it is where he developed a strong love of reggae and became a Rastafari. Reggae, evolved from another musical style called Ska in the late 1960’s, is considered the voice of the ‘oppressed’ peoples. Many reggae lyrics are politicalised and centre on themes of freedom and fighting for it. (Cooper, 2014)
Ray Allen, Lois Wilcken. "Island Sounds in the Global City: Caribbean Popular Music and Identity in New York." 1-6. Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1988.
Music has played a role in society since the dawn of man. Said to be the beginning of communication in early civilization, music and dance have influenced how we think, act and treat members of our own society. Song and dance is used in rites of passage ceremonies such as births, weddings and funerals throughout the world. Jamaican and Yoruba cultures have made many contributions to our society. The uses of this music as a vehicle for political issues, values, and beliefs have been used by many musicians from different cultures. I intend to discuss the Contribution of these two contemporary cultures music and their effect on society.