SOUL SOUND

Developed by the ancestry of Jamaicans in the late 1960s. Reggae is a musical genre developed by the ancestry of African Jamaicans in the late 1960s. Reggae bands incorporate musical idioms from many different genres, including mento (a Jamaican folk genre), ska, rocksteady, calypso, and American soul music and rhythm and blues. The genre is known for its propulsive percussion, hypnotic bass lines, and steady, up-stroke rhythm guitar (called the "skank beat"), which has helped it cut through as a dance music genre. Most reggae songs feature lyrics in Jamaican English, Jamaican Patois, or Iyaric dialects.

Reggae music originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s and has since become popular around the world. Reggae shares its roots with jazz and rhythm and blues music, and has been hugely influential in the evolution of many modern genres including dub, hip hop, and drum and bass. As a signature form of Jamaican music, reggae is closely tied to the Rastafarian religion and social movement that traces its roots to 1930s Jamaica. To this day, many reggae musicians practice Rastafarianism. Reggae artists often sing of Rastafari spiritual themes or social justice, which aligns the genre with other popular music that arose in the late 1960s, such as American folk rock. Reggae’s socially-conscious lyrics have gone on to inspire other musical styles such as hip hop.

The genre was known because of the artists that contributed and followed its style of music. Bob Marley was a great representation of music to the genre. Aside from the style of the song, the message that the lyrics such as “Get Up, Stand Up” may be the most potent song ever about human rights and the fight to secure them. The artists witnessed its poverty firsthand, and the others that are in connection to him were similarly attuned to oppression, particularly in the music business. Bob Marley released countless timeless singles including 'I Shot the Sheriff', 'Redemption Song', and 'No Woman No Cry'. Perhaps the most iconic Bob Marley album is 'Exodus', released during the birth of punk in 1977; the album contains some of his biggest hits including 'Three Little Birds', and 'One Love'.