Reggae is an African Caribbean style of music developed on the island of
Jamaica and
is closely linked to the religion
Rastafarianism, though not universally popular among its members. The origins of
Reggae can be found in traditional African Caribbean music as well as
Rythym & Blues.
Ska and
Rocksteady are 1960's precursors of reggae.
Bob Marley, who later popularized the style on a world-wide basis, also recorded
Rocksteady
records early in his career. The style of reggae he made famous is called
Roots reggae or
Roots Rock Reggae, and is still used by many artists such as
Black
Uhuru,
Burning Spear,
Culture,
Israel Vibrations,
The Skatalites and
Toots and
The Maytals
from
Jamaica and
UB40 from the
UK.
In Jamaica however, new styles are more popular, among them Lovers rock, Dancehall
and Raggamuffin. Dub is an instrumental sub-style
of reggae. Mixing techniques employed in Dub probably influenced Hip hop, Drum and Bass and other styles. In any case, the
toasting or dee jaying of raggamuffin reggae - first used by artists such as Dillinger or Yellowman - had a world-wide impact because Jamaican Dj kool Herc used them
as he came up with a new style later called Hip hop or rap music. In the Jamaican sense of the word, a DJ is an MC or rapper,
whereas the DJ is called (music) selector in Jamaica. Therefore what is called dee jaying or chatting in Jamaica is called
rapping in most other parts of the world. --http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggae [2004]
