Summary
Caribbean music is a bright and profound celebration of the island culture. Its history is rooted in the region’s history, making up a complex melting pot of genres, with the most prominent including salsa, reggae, calypso, and reggaeton, among others. A complicated reflection of its past, the region’s music comprises ethnic diversity and is, in its own way, a history of lands invaded by white outsiders. In today’s globalized musical world, Caribbean music genres stand out as the authentic artistic legacy of indigenous peoples. Influenced by foreign cultures and genres, Caribbean music beautifully explains the most dramatic chapters in human history, including colonization, slavery, the cold war, and links between countries and continents.
In the diversity of Caribbean music, the musical legacy of Cuba and Jamaica stands out, revealing ties of the region with African culture. Developing in the complex political context, music of the islands became widely popular in the past two centuries, spreading cultural traditions of various ethnicities across the globe. Gaining worldwide popularity in the late 1960s, reggae and Afro-Cuban music genres became associated with cultural diversity, freedom, and the triumph of cosmopolitism (Washburne, 4). A mixture of various genres and cultural traditions, Afro-Cuban music and reggae were frequently labeled as “authentic” by their global audiences.
Reggae and Rastafarianism
Reggae emerged in the late 1960s in Kingston, Jamaica. An urban music genre blended African American jazz, rhythm, and blues with Afro-Jamaican folk and religious musical influences (Kauppila, 116). It is linked with Kingston’s poor Afro-Jamaican urban communities, even though it resonated with international audiences of different socioeconomic backgrounds almost immediately after its emergence on the global music scene. The genre originated from ska and rocksteady music genres, other Jamaican music styles that inspired musicians worldwide. Despite being very popular in the 1960s in Jamaica, ska and rocksteady did not achieve the global popularity reggae did.
Reggae music generally revolves around the rhythm (drums and bass guitar are essential for reggae bands). Yet, despite being generally recognized for its distinctive melody, reggae lyrics distinguish the genre from the wide variety of Caribbean themes. Reggae is sung in Jamaican English and Jamaican Patois and uses words and phrases derived from Rastafarian culture. Reggae singers condemned middle-class norms, values, and religion and often referred to postcolonial racial and socioeconomic injustice (Kauppila, 117). Musicians were also often internationally criticized for explicit lyrics about love and sex and the consumption of marijuana.
Smoking cannabis became a sacramental practice in reggae culture, as it is principal in Rastafarianism, a religion that directly influenced the music genre. Rastafarianism emerged in Jamaica in the 1930s as a religious, social, and cultural Afrocentric movement in a reaction to the British colonial rule that lasted until the country gained independence in 1962. With the growing global popularity of reggae, Rastafari and Jamaica itself gained international attention (Kauppila, 117). A celebration of Jamaican authenticity, Rastafari culture suggests Jamaican identity is found in its African roots and focuses on being oppressed by the West.
The genre’s development was mainly influenced by its prominent musicians. Their charismatic personalities defined the world of music in the 1960s and 1970s and keep influencing and inspiriting artists from around the world decades later. One of the leading reggae musicians, Bob Marley, is inseparable from Jamaican culture and Rastafarianism. Reggae rhythms sincerely reflect clashes of races, social classes, and cultures throughout history, creating truly pure and powerful music. The genre conquered the world quickly, with Jamaican leading music figures such as Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley storming US music charts and sharing their popularity with America’s most famous musicians, such as Eric Clapton. Interestingly, the genre’s development in Jamaica differed from its international success. The music industry is also dependent on recording technologies and copyright laws, which were not developed on the island (Kauppila, 118). Once conquering the entire world, reggae remains, perhaps, one of the most popular and easily recognizable genres in the world today, still profoundly linked with its geographic origins and Rastafari culture.
Afro-Cuban Music
Another distinctive genre of Caribbean music is Afro-Cuban jazz, one of the earliest forms of Caribbean jazz music, blending the island’s music with the African-American culture of Louisiana. Jazz itself came from Black musicians in America, some of who were Cuban migrants. It was born from a curious connection between Cuba and the Black culture of the American south but lost its Latin infusion in New York in the early 1930s (Washburne, 63). Latin jazz became an independent genre, known for its distinctive rhythms familiar to habanera, the Spanish version of country dance music. Based on African rhythm patterns, Cuban country dance has inspired the world of music and contemporary dances, such as cha-cha-cha, which are a part of the international artistic landscape today. Afro-Cuban jazz revolves around improvisation and is performed on particular Afro-Cuban instruments, such as congas and bongo. Afro-Cuban music became synonymous with freedom, love, and passion in the 20th century, when Afro-Cuban jazz musicians could compete with American jazz music stars in aptitude and popularity. A fascinating exploration of jazz improvisation techniques, Afro-Cuban jazz is very popular worldwide, delivering a genuine celebration of African, Caribbean, and American cultural blend.
Works Cited
Kauppila, Paul. “The Ultimate Guide to Great Reggae: The Complete Story of Reggae Told through Its Greatest Songs, Famous and Forgotten by Michael Garnice (review)”. Notes (Music Library Association), vol. 75, no.1, 2018, pp. 116-118.
Washburne, Christopher. Latin Jazz: The Other Jazz. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020.