REGGAE

Reggae is the most influential popular music of Jamaica. Although it is a uniquely original form, it has its roots in both American rhythm and blues (R&B) and Caribbean calypso and mento. Some of its most famous Jamaican performers include Bob MARLEY and the Wailers, Peter Tosh, and Jimmy Cliff; although reggae is a style that is now performed by artists throughout the world and has influenced many other genres of popular music since its inception in Jamaica in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

JAMAICAN ROOTS OF REGGAE

In the 1950s the sound of calypso was at the height of its popularity in the U.S. and abroad, popularised by singers such as Harry Belafonte. At the same time young Jamaican musicians were becoming interested in American jazz, soul, rock’n’roll, and, in the early 1960s, the pop and R&B sounds coming out of MOTOWN and New Orleans. But the Jamaican bands and recording studios lacked the sophisticated technology that allowed the American producers to create their signature sounds (using reverbs, echos, and other equipment that was then state-of-the-art). Instead, the Jamaican musicians created two essential elements of the reggae rhythm, the “one-drop” and the “skank” (also known as the “changa,” or “shank” in England). While the one-drop rhythm is played in 4/4 time, it differs from a standard pop-rhythm in that the accent is felt on the third beat of the 4/4 measure. This creates what is known as a “half-time” feel. The skank is a rhythmic figure (usually performed on electric guitar) that plays on the upbeat eighth notes of the 4/4 measure, and competes with, but also complements, the one-drop. The rhythmic tension created when the one-drop and the skank are played together is responsible for the floating, dancing quality of most reggae music, and the skank guitar part is regarded as pivotal to the music.

Other characteristics of reggae include the “bubble,” the two-handed rhythmic figure played by keyboardists; and the tendency of the bass to play “off the one” (meaning in a syncopated fashion, leaving out the first beat of the bar), but the harmonies are simple.

In addition to the one-drop, some of the drum rhythms heard in reggae music include “steppers” or “military-style” (a heavy four-to-the-bar feel), the 16th-note straight “back-beat” rhythm, and what has become known as “dancehall,” a three-note repetitive figure played over a straight four quarter-note beat that has established itself as an independent Reggae style.

SIGNATURE SOUND OF SKA

Jamaican guitarist Ernest Ranglin is usually credited as the first player to use the skank rhythm. This rhythm became a signature sound in the pop and R&B imitations of Jamaican groups, which eventually became the proto-reggae style known as “ska.” An early hit in this ska/Jamaico-R&B style was Millie Small’s “My Boy Lollipop,” a novelty number that appealed to the teen market and charted in 1964.

Ska is a fast dance music with horn-section arrangements, a driving beat, and an uptempo version of the skank rhythm. Toots and the Maytals were one of the earliest Jamaican groups to popularise the ska style, which has made comebacks in recent years—first in the 1980s with 2-Tone label bands such as the Specials, the Selecter and the Beat, and again in the 1990s with groups like the Mighty Mighty Boss-Tones.

Jamaican reggae legend Desmond Dekker, who scored his biggest hit in 1969, with the single “Israelites,” was one of the first internationally known reggae artists.

BIRTH OF REGGAE WITH DESMOND DEKKER

As Jamaican pop evolved, the earliest reggae music began to surface. Groups or recording artists that contributed to the beginnings of reggae sound include the Skatelites, Johnny Nash, and Desmond Dekker. The first Jamaican tune to mention the new musical style by name was the Maytals’ “Do the Reggay,” (1968) although many students of the music agree that Dekker’s song “Israelites” (1969) qualifies as the first true reggae song. It contains many of the elements that make up the reggae rhythm (a much slower tempo than ska, a one-drop-like beat, and the skank rhythm), and the lyrics deal with the ideology of Rastafarianism, a religious cult based on a messianic belief in Africa as the Promised Land, and on the worship of Haile Selassie as a deity. Rastafarianism and reggae have become closely linked, and it is hard to find a Jamaican reggae song that is not based on Rastafarian ideas.

SOUND-SYSTEM MAN

Due to the increased demand in Jamaica for American sounds in the mid-1960s, a curious phenomenon arose that has profoundly affected not only reggae, but also its American cousins, dance and rap hip-hop. The Jamaican “Sound System Man,” a mobile DJ and sound-system operator, became the precursor to U.S. disco, party, and rap DJs. Often using an old vehicle, crude equipment, and homemade speaker cabinets, Jamaican DJs would travel to events, parties, and street corners throughout the capital city of Kingston to play recorded music for the masses. These DJs or MCs initiated the practice of rhyming over instrumental B-sides of Jamaican and American hits; they often “rapped” about their own prowess as DJs or the superiority of their sound-system. This early form of rap was known as “toasting,” which usually had the connotation of good-natured ribbing or insulting the competition. The DJs were also responsible for the creation of another of reggae’s hallmark musical offerings, “dub.”

Dub music is the musical antecedent to the modern “dance re-mix.” DJs and Jamaican recording engineers used equal parts primitive equipment and ultra-ingenious flash to create a new style, a remix of prerecorded tracks that usually left some portion of the rhythm intact, while dropping in bits and pieces of various vocal tracks or musical accompaniment in seemingly random places. Distorted or over-generated echo or reverb adds a rhythmically disorienting effect. Dub became the basis for the newer Jamaican sounds of dancehall, a modern dance rap-oriented version of reggae practiced by artists such as Mad Cobra, Shabba Ranks, Buju Banton, and Patra.

Despite the popularity of other versions of reggae, the most famous reggae performer of all time remains the late Bob Marley. His recordings with the Waiters have sold millions in the U.K., North America and Africa. His music dealt with tough socio-political issues, but also dealt with topics everyone understands—spirituality, life, love, and loss. His best-known song is probably “No Woman, No Cry” (1975). Marley died in 1981, but his musical legacy lives on with the Marley-family band (the Melody Makers) led by his son, Ziggy.

Other famous “roots” (mid-1970s) style reggae performers included Jimmy Cliff, Burning Spear, Culture, the Gladiators, the Mighty Diamonds, and Black Uhuru. Probably the most recorded reggae rhythm section is the combination of drummer Sly Dunbar and electric bassist Robbie Shakespeare. The pair appeared on countless recordings, crossed over to the rock pop field and worked with performers such as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and also became involved in producing.

Reggae music continues to be a vital, evolving musical force, as well as an influence on modern rock, pop, jazz, rap, and R&B.

Gregg Juke