Introduction
When one talks about Jamaican music, the first music genre that comes to mind is reggae music by Bob Marley. However, the history of Jamaican music spans beyond the music legend. The history of Jamaican music is based on drumbeat with a bit of European influence. Today Jamaican Music has evolved over the years to include these roots and has influenced the emergence of other genres. Jamaican music has also propelled several artists to international status. In fact, without Jamaican music, musical sounds such as Mento, Reggae, Ska, and Hip-Hop would not have come to the world’s knowledge (Henry). The paper traces the evolution of these musical sounds in Jamaica and how they spread to other parts of the world.
Mento Music
Mento draws its musical origins from enslaved West African people. These enslaved people were often rewarded for playing music for their masters. In addition to singing, they incorporated dance into the Music (Henry), and with time, Mento came to be considered Jamaican folk music. Mento music was the first form of music predating Ska and Reggae. It combines African and European rhythmic elements, which gained popularity in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The distinguishable feature of Mento was that it solely used instruments to produce sound. Some of these instruments were but were not limited to hand drums, banjos, acoustic guitar, and the rhumba box. The rhumba box produced the bass part of the Music (Kauppila), which brought in more harmony to most Mento pieces.
Due to the similarities Mento shares with Calypso, a form of music originating from Trinidad and Tobago, Mento is often confused with Calypso. Despite the similarities, the two forms of music are separate and distinct. The confusion was more predominant in the mid-20th century when most Mento artists used Calypso techniques and vice versa. Unlike Calypso, Mento uses topical lyrics, which contain humor to highlight major social problems such as poverty, crime, and corruption. It also had some sexual innuendoes (Perry). Mento could be considered a precursor of other forms of Music in Jamaica, such as Dancehall, which also points out social problems and contains sexual innuendoes. Although Mento is an old form of music, bands in modern Jamaica perform the music in hotels to entertain tourists.
Ska Music
Ska gained popularity in the 1950s as it emerged from the Mento genre. Musicians adding other techniques into Mento music from other forms of music such as Calypso, American Jazz, Blues, and so on choreographed the emergence of Ska. The distinguishing feature of Ska is that it features a bass line accompanied by an offbeat rhythm. Notable musicians who popularized Ska were Prince Buster, Clement Dodd, and Stranger Cole after forming sound systems and playing American Blues. Over time, in the early 1960s, Ska had become the most popular music genre in Jamaica (Perry). Some of the popular songs from famous artists that were initially Ska music are “Oh Carolina” by the Folkes Brothers, the very popular “My Boy Lollipop” by Millie Small, and “Simmer Down” by the Wailers in 1963. Legends such as Bob Marley and Toots Hibert began their music career with Ska music (Henry). Other countries that embraced Ska music were the United States and the United Kingdom. Chris Blackwell Island Records was one of the labels in the 1960s, which popularized Jamaica Ska music by recording several songs by Ska artists.
Jamaican Rocksteady Music
Similar to past music genres such as Ska, Rocksteady incorporated music elements such as jazz, blues, and African drumming. The Rocksteady music genre originated from Jamaica around 1966 (BBC). It is considered the successor of Ska and predecessor of reggae music. After its discovery, Rocksteady dominated the Jamaican music industry for two years. During the two years, music groups such as the Paragons, the Hepstones, and the Techniques produced popular songs under the Rocksteady music genre. Solo musicians who created songs using Rocksteady techniques were Alton Ellis and Delroy Wilson. The name Rocksteady was coined from a popular dance style witnessed in Alton Ellis song “Rocksteady,” which matched the song’s rhythm (ZonaReGGae). Over time, the music genre became popular to capture international attention when popular Rocksteady songs became hits internationally. This helped lay out the strong foundation reggae enjoys today.
Jamaican Reggae Music
Reggae is the most famous music genre known to have originated from Jamaica in the late 1960s. By the 1970s, it has gained international recognition being popular in the US, UK, and Africa. It was mainly regarded as the voice of the oppressed (Cooper). Reggae, like its predecessors, was based on Ska, Rocksteady, and Mento but applied a heavy rhythm accompanied by drums, electric, and bass guitar. The music is associated with the Rastafari religion, which gained popularity in the 1930s and promoted pan-Africanism. The Rastafari religion assisted reggae music in gaining international recognition by helping in spreading the Rastafari gospel (Warner). Like other forms of music, Reggae draws heavily from African folk song rhythms with a bit of European touch due to the introduction of the guitar and piano. Some of the popular musicians of reggae music were Bob Marley, the Wailers, and the Skatalites, among others.
Jamaican Music Today
Although most of the pioneers of Jamaican Reggae, such as Bob Marley and the Wailers, died, the reggae music still reigns continues. With the advancement in music recording technology in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Jamaican music industry was revolutionized, leading to the creation of Ragga. This generic form of reggae music was marked with simplistic lyrics, paving the way for young artists to make their mark in the local and international music scene. Contemporary musicians such as Sean Paul, Beenie Man, and Shaggy, among others, continue to sell reggae music to the world. The raga genre comes in several forms, including roots, lovers rock, and Rastafarian (Henry). This has made reggae music popular in most parts of the world because the various categories target a specific demographic.
Conclusion
Jamaican music finds its origin in enslaved West Africans who sang for their masters and got rewarded for the skill. This form of music was known as the Mento, which only involved acoustic performance. Ska, which in addition to acoustics, included some form of dance and some European touch in the form of pianos and bass guitars. The Rocksteady music was a slight variation of Ska, which incorporated jazz and blues in its rendition. Finally, the reggae music included all the elements of Mento, Ska, and Rocksteady.
Works Cited
BBC. “BBC Four – Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae.”BBC, 2011, Web.
Cooper, Carolyn J. “Reggae | Music.”Encyclopædia Britannica, 2016, Web.
Henry, Ricardo. “Jamaican Music – from Mento to Dancehall.”Jamaica Land We Love, Web.
Perry, Andrew. “Chris Blackwell Interview: Island Records.“Www.telegraph.co.uk, 2009, Web.
“Shaping Freedom, Finding Unity – the Power of Music Displayed in Early Mento.”Jamaica-Gleaner.com, Web.
Warner, Keith Q. “Calypso, Reggae, and Rastafarianism: Authentic Caribbean Voices.”Popular Music and Society, vol. 12, no. 1, Mar. 1988, pp. 53–62.
ZonaReGGae. “ZonaReGGae Reviews’ Many Moods of…Alton Ellis.’” ZonaReGGaeRadioshow, 2007, Web.