Ska
Ska originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, developing out of Jazz and Rhythm & Blues (specifically New Orleans R&B and Jump-Blues), combined with local Mento and Calypso styles. The original Jamaican Ska developed ska as a genre that focused on off-beat rhythms, and utilised horn sections, busy bass lines, and smooth vocal harmonies.
Towards the mid-1960s, this ska mentality was combined with various Soul styles and developed into the slower Rocksteady genre. This development, alongside the growth of the ska movement, also lead to the creation of Reggae in the late 1960s. In the 1970s, British musicians who had grown up listening to the original form of ska developed their own revival sound in 2 Tone. Following this, in the mid-to-late 1980s, bands in North America revived the genre once again - influenced by the British 2 tone - to create the Third Wave Ska movement. Both of these movements drew influence from Punk music, and eventually the third wave spawned the Ska Punk style.
Throughout all of these changes, ska became a worldwide phenomenon with many distinct styles. All forms of ska are unified in the use of the off-beat focus, and have a tendency to include chop-style guitar work. Ska is typically played at a lively tempo and is extremely danceable.
Ambient Dub
Ambient dub is an Electronic fusion of Ambient and Dub reggae, featuring the atmosphere of the former and the Jamaican-style basslines, percussion, and psychedelic production techniques of the latter.
The name of the genre was coined by Beyond with a series of compilation albums of the same name, starting with Ambient Dub, Volume One - The Big Chill in 1992. Many of the prominent artists within the genre also perform or mix in elements of Dub Techno or Ambient Techno, which has led to confusion over ambient dub's actual sound. While the lines are blurred between these three electronic genres, ambient dub can genuinely be discerned by its denser atmospheres, a heavier use of reverb and/or delay, and an emphasis on bass akin to traditional dub.
Deejay
(also known as DJ, Toasting, Chatting)
A form of reggae in which a deejay (similar to an MC in hip hop) talks his lyrics over a pre-recorded reggae rhythm. The deejay style originated in the 60s during the ska era, and was made popular during the early reggae era by deejays such as U-Roy and Dennis Alcapone. Deejays became more prominent than singers in the 80s during the early dancehall era, and deejaying is the dominating style in modern ragga.
A reggae deejay should not be confused with a DJ (disc jockey) who selects and plays music. Reggae disc jockeys are called "selectors".
Digital Dancehall
(also known as Digital Reggae)
Digital Dancehall is a form of dancehall music that emerged in the mid 80s with the King Jammy produced Under Me Sleng Teng / Version by Wayne Smith. The main characteristic that makes it different from the first forms of Dancehall is the rhythms are digital rather than having the traditional backing band. After the Sleng Teng hit Digital Dancehall became the standard style in Dancehall, up until the early 90s where the more hardcore style of Ragga took over.
Dub
Originally referring to a "dub plate" acetate disc containing an alternative or remixed version of a song, dub developed into a distinctive style of primarily instrumental reggae in the early 1970s. Producers would use the B-side of a single to experiment with techniques and styles unsuitable for the A-side, and later these versions/dubs would be compiled into dub albums, and/or reused by singers and Deejays. Early pioneers included producers Lee "Scratch" Perry, King Tubby and Keith Hudson. The genre is characterised by emphasis on the rhythm track, extensive use of sound effects and heavy reverb. While Jamaican dub LPs became rarer after the early 1980s, the style has been highly influential in the development of electronic music by developing the modern concept of remix and forming the roots of Dancehall, while the sound and name has passed on to such genres as Dub Techno, Ambient Dub and Dubstep.
Dub Poetry
Dub Poetry consists of performing poetry over reggae and dub rhythms, originated in Jamaica in the 70s.
Dub Techno
Dub Techno fuses elements of Minimal Techno music with characteristics of Dub. Those characteristics are used to convey atmospheric deepness and enrichment of textures through sound effects such as echo, reverb, phasing and other sonic manipulation.
Even though a few dub techno works predate them, Basic Channel are often credited as the pioneers of the genre, and helped establish its conventions. Several other influential artists of the genre include Porter Ricks, Monolake, Pole, DeepChord, Vladislav Delay, and more recently Andy Stott.
Jamaican Ska
(also known as First Wave Ska)
The first wave of Ska originated in Jamaica with groups like The Skatalites, who combined Jazz and Rhythm & Blues with rhythms of traditional Caribbean Music like Mento and Calypso. The unmistakable rhythm of ska is defined by the strong emphasis on the off-beats. Horn sections, busy and walking bass lines, and smooth vocal harmonies are also characteristic of Jamaican ska.
The original sound of ska developed in post-WWII Jamaica, where musicians were influenced by United States radio stations broadcasting New Orleans R&B, Jump-Blues, and shuffle-blues music. Initially ska was a Jamaican counterpart to this southern blues music, but quickly developed into a unique style. The notable off-beat guitar rhythm work heard in tracks like Fats Domino's "Be My Guest" was a heavy influence on the development of Jamaican ska. Due to the country's then lack of acknowledgement of international music copyright protection, local bands would often perform covers of popular North American and British shuffle and rock songs in this new style.
With the rise of North American Soul music in the early-to-mid 1960s, the style of ska changed, and developed into Rocksteady towards the end of the decade. Both the new style of rocksteady, and the original form of ska were the main influences behind the rise of the Reggae genre in the late 1960s. Towards the end of the 1970s, British bands who had grown up listening to first wave ska revived the genre as 2 Tone (second wave ska), and eventually this lead to the Third Wave Ska revival in North America. Jamaican ska pre-dates 2 tone by approximately two decades, and was known simply as ska until the genre's revival usurped the original term. Many important Jamaican musicians of the 1960-70s, including The Wailers, The Upsetters and Toots & The Maytals, began by playing ska before switching to reggae and Dub.
Lovers Rock
Lovers Rock is a smooth, quieter reggae beat with lyrics focusing on romance and love. Its origins lay in the UK with the producer Dennis Harris and his recordings with artists on his Lovers Rock label from which the genre gained its name. It was seen as an alternative to Roots Reggae and its heavy lyrics and style which was popular at the time. As it developed, it became popular back in Jamaica where older reggae artists embraced it as a way to broaden their appeal and attract new fans.
Novo Dub
Novo dub is an alternative Dub genre, which mixes contemporary influences (especially Electronic) with the traditional Dub sound. In addition, it is meant to be played "live" with traditional instruments which are processed through a lot of effects.
The roots can be traced back to the French Punk Rock and Reggae scene of the 1980s, but the genre really originated in the late 1990s in the west of France (with artists such as EZ3kiel and Zenzile) and in Lyon with the Jarring Effects label with artists like High Tone - who are considered to be the spearhead of the genre, and Kaly Live Dub, when groups started playing live instrumental versions of Reggae music using their pedal effects. The genre became popular in the 2000s, though remaining confined to continental Europe.
Pop Reggae
Pop reggae is a light, commercial form of Reggae designed to crossover and break through to a more mainstream Pop audience. The style builds on the general template developed from the Ska, Rocksteady and reggae lineage, whilst accentuating the more melodic aspects and adding influences from Soul (and later, Contemporary R&B). Pop reggae recordings use a slick production style and often feature lush string arrangements and catchy piano parts.
Jimmy Cliff and Johnny Nash were early pioneers of pop reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This, along with the poppier Bob Marley tracks, such as "Jamming", "Three Little Birds" and "One Love" from Exodus, were the inspiration for several white pop artists to perform their own take on reggae music in the 1980s and beyond, including UB40's "Red Red Wine", Blondie's "The Tide is High", Men at Work's "Down Under" and The Police's "Walking on the Moon", as well as success from Jamaican-origin acts such as Inner Circle and the UK-based Musical Youth. All this followed a revival of ska with the late 1970s UK 2 Tone movement helping to bring Jamaican Music to a much wider audience.
The early 1990s saw the emergence of several European acts performing their take on pop reggae, often adding elements of the then-current Eurodance scene. This was sometimes termed 'euro reggae' with the most notable example being Ace of Base. The pop reggae formula proved as fruitful as ever in the 21st century with the huge success of singers such as Shaggy and Sean Kingston.
Reggae
Reggae is a genre of music developed in the late 1960s in Jamaica. The genre is characterised by a 4/4 time signature, offbeat rhythms, the organ shuffle or "bubble", and staccato guitar (or piano) chords known as "skank". Reggae developed out of Ska and Rocksteady, and bears strong influences from those genres (Spaghetti Western rudeness and bravado themes, for example). Elements of American Rhythm & Blues, as well as traditional Caribbean Calypso and Mento are also present in the original reggae sound.
The Rastafari movement significantly influenced reggae's rhythm style with its ritual drumming called Nyahbinghi. Many famous reggae musicians were practicing Rastas including Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Cedric Myton.
Contemporary reggae has spread to many countries around the world, often fusing with other regional genres. This was due largely to the worldwide success of Roots Reggae artists like Bob Marley, which inspired the Pop Reggae of artists such as Jimmy Cliff and UB40. This globalisation was also a result of Lee "Scratch" Perry and Dub's influence on Electronic music.
Rocksteady
Rocksteady is a style of Jamaican popular music that blossomed briefly between 1966 and 1968. Compared to its predecessor Ska, rocksteady was slower, more relaxed, and soulful. The rhythm, especially the bass, became more prominent, the bass lines more intricate, and horns took a supporting role in the background.
Rocksteady was typically performed by vocal harmony trios like The Heptones, The Paragons and The Techniques as well as solo performers like Alton Ellis and Phyllis Dillon, most often singing smooth, romantic love songs. The American soul scene was a big influence, especially The Impressions. Another theme associated with rocksteady was rudeboys, young Jamaican gangsters and troublemakers. Most popular artists wrote songs for or against 'rudies'.
Most of the stars, musicians and producers from the rocksteady era remained key figures when the music evolved into Reggae, sometime around 1968.
Roots Reggae
Roots reggae is a style of Reggae that is primarily defined through the political, spiritual and socially conscious messages of its lyrics. Common themes are social injustice and ghetto life, Jamaica's colonial past and slavery, Rastafarian faith and repatriation to Africa. Common musical traits include the use of minor key melodies, hypnotic, repetitive rhythms, or forceful and militant "rockers" rhythms, Nyahbinghi drumming, heavy horns, plaintive, wailing vocals, or sweet vocal harmonies, as well as experimentation with Dub techniques.
The golden age of roots reggae was the 1970s, when it was the dominant style in Jamaica, and gained worldwide popularity through artists like Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Burning Spear and Culture. In the late 70s/early 80s, roots reggae was replaced by Dancehall as the dominant sound in reggae, but it survived as a more underground style, which still finds worldwide audiences. In the mid-1990s, there was a resurgence of roots music in Jamaica, when popular dancehall artists adopted more conscious lyrical themes.
Seggae
Seggae is a fusion genre of Séga and Reggae, popular on Mauritius and other Mascarene Islands. It was created in the eighties by Kaya, the Mauritian Rastafari singer involved in the fight for rights of the Creoles.
Ska Punk
Ska punk is a fusion genre that combined Ska with the speed and aggression of Punk Rock. It developed in the early 1980s as a continuation of the then growing Third Wave Ska movement. Starting primarily in North America, bands utilised the styles found in the British 2 Tone movement in new and harder ways. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Operation Ivy were early examples of American bands pushing this 1970s ska sound into new territory, and were vital to the development of the fusion sound.
Although it began as an underground style, by the mid-1990s ska punk had achieved mainstream Rock success. Bands formed under the influence of the third wave during the late 1980s to the early 1990s, most notably Rancid, Sublime, Goldfinger, No Doubt, and Reel Big Fish, all of which hailed from California. Less Than Jake brought the sound to the east coast of the United States, and were another notable band to bring radio success to the genre.
As British bands pushed the third wave into fusions of 2 tone and Oi!, North American bands also went in a harder direction, mixing Hardcore Punk with ska to create skacore. Other acts continued to perform in the popular standard ska punk style, and others mixed in elements of Alternative Rock to further develop a unique sound.
Skinhead Reggae
This reggae style has its origins in 1968 in London, reaching its height in 1969. Along with ska, it was the preferred music of the new subculture of skinheads, as well as young black immigrants. As a subgenre of Reggae it is rough sounding and fast paced, using brass modestly, with lyrics reflecting the skinheads' view upon work, football, beer, and bovver.
Spouge
Spouge is a fusion of Calypso and Ska originating in Barbados during the 1960s and 70s. Spouge is played at a significantly faster speed than what the genres are typically played at. Although this genre is rooted in Caribbean Music, spouge is also influenced by Traditional Folk Music such as Sea Shanties and American Folk Music such as Spirituals. Typical instrumentation of spouge includes drums, cowbell, and bass usually accompanied by a saxophone, trombone, and trumpet. Jackie Opel is widely referred to as the genres creator and as one of the main reasons for the genres success in the Caribbean. Spouge is commonly associated with The Draytons Two style of "Raw Spouge" or the "Dragon Spouge" style of Young Cassius. Towards the midpoint of the 70s, spouge's prominence had begun to fade.
Notable Spouge musicians include Wendy Alleyne, Blue Rhythm Combo, The Dynamics, Lord Radio and The Bimshire Boys, The Draytons Two, The Troubadours.
Third Wave Ska
Third wave ska is a Ska revival genre that expanded on the 2 Tone period from Britain during the late 1970s. It developed during the mid-to-late 1980s, gained notable commercial success around the mid-1990s, and somewhat dissolved as a movement during the mid-2000s.
The development of third wave ska can be traced to the United States, where bands such as The Uptones, The Toasters, The Slackers, and The Scofflaws began playing their own form of 2 tone ska. While it didn't stray much from the stylistic changes found in the second wave, it did draw influence from the Mod Revival, took a heavier influence from Punk Rock, and some elements of Jazz.
During the time period in which third wave ska developed in North America, several other genres were burgeoning simultaneously, mainly within the Punk and Metal scenes. This lead to the eventual fusion of ska and punk rock, creating Ska Punk, especially by bands such as The Mighty Mighty Bosstones who propelled the genre's popularity to new heights in the 90s. Third wave and ska punk bands often shared an overlapping sound, and due to the growing popularity of the heavier sound, bands began to shed any non-punk influences, and third wave eventually became a less active scene.
Whilst the majority of the third wave developed in North America, Britain also saw a change in its ska scene during the late 1980s. Bands like The Burial and The Hotknives arguably continued the 2 tone style, but in this heavier style of the third revival. With the rise of the trojan skinhead scene, and the growing Oi! genre, British bands also began to move towards a harder ska sound. The original Rhythm & Blues heritage was steadily pushed into the background, and the focus was centred on the offbeat, chop-like guitar work.
Outside of the UK and North America, other countries developed a ska scene during the transitional period between the second and third waves. As the genre spread worldwide, with burgeoning scenes in Australia, Japan, Germany, Spain, and Russia, the waves of ska on the whole somewhat came to a stopping point. Beyond the 2000s, bands began to simply play ska music for what it was; some continued in the style of the original Jamaican Ska, while others got heavier and fused ska with other genres such as Hardcore Punk and Alternative Rock.
2 Tone
(also known as Second Wave Ska)
2 Tone originated in England in the late 1970s as a revival of the first wave Jamaican Ska movement of the 1960s. It is considered to be the second wave of Ska, and was followed by Third Wave Ska in the mid-to-late 1980s.
It draws its name from Jerry Dammers's 2 Tone Records (a term coined by Dammers), which released music by bands that helped develop the sound of the era - specifically The Specials (Dammers' own band), Bad Manners, The Selecter, and Madness. These groups held roots found within first wave ska (often even covering tracks of the first era in their new style), whilst combining elements of the emerging New Wave genre, as well as elements of Punk Rock.
A notable change from the original ska was bands bringing the guitar work to the front of the mix, where it was previously only used to carry songs in the background in Jamaican ska. This style eventually left the UK, where it was picked up by bands in North America and eventually developed into Ska Punk, bringing even more emphasis on guitar work and aggression within the ska genre.
Although the original 2 Tone Records label eventually shut down in 1985, many bands and artists continue to perform in the style. It became less commonplace with burgeoning fusion styles and the spread of third wave ska in both the United States and England.
Definitions courtesy of rateyourmusic.com