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What Music Do Jamaicans Listen To

Jhunelle J

Jamaica’s ever-changing music scene mainly sampled sounds of USA and Britain in years past. The types of music Jamaicans listen to have transformed over time, and continue to develop new genres and subgenres. Modern Jamaicans primarily enjoy native reggae and dancehall. Mainstream international music earns considerable play locally as well, especially R&B, hip hop, and pop; soca music has created its own resident subculture. Before today’s popular forms, other musical genres relished their respective heydays in Jamaica.

What Music influenced Jamaican Music?

Before the 1950s, most residents got musical entertainment from live shows and concerts. When the island was still a British colony in the 1920s and ’30s local orchestras specialized in big band jazz. Cost of vinyl records and players was prohibitive, only owned by few wealthy Jamaicans. The formation of Radio Jamaica and Rediffusion (RJR) in 1950 popularized British and American songs. RJR’s nightly music and daily radio shows are what exposed most Jamaicans to recorded tunes for the first time. The station covered a range of genres from Classical music through Pop, R&B, Country, and American folk rock. Residents were also listening to radio stations based in southern USA around this time, which played Country music. During the 1940s and ’50s feature films starring singing cowboys were particularly popular with local audiences, which gave Country music an extra boost.

In the years following World War II (WWII) many Jamaicans travelled to southern USA for seasonal work. Mass urbanisation, cheap production of radios, and the rise of portable sound systems resulted in an urban dance upsurge. USA block parties had R&B music booming in the streets through speaker boxes. Jamaicans began to replicate this back home, developing the staple of the island’s sound system culture. The early days of sound systems mainly had American R&B played, but local flavour was soon added! In 1954 a music industry emerged following the opening of Jamaica's first recording facility, Federal Studios. DJs battling for sound clash bragging rights sought song exclusivity when playing on Kingston’s pulsating streets. Blaring locally-recorded tunes through the speakers elevated homegrown sounds and artistes.

Jamaican Music Genres

Mento (1940s)

Mento is Jamaican folk songs that emerged during the 1940s, and prevailed on the local music scene following WWII until the 1950s. It’s the country’s earliest surviving indigenous melody form, with instrumentation sharing similarities with America’s Country Western music and Trinidad’s Calypso music. Mento mixed lyrics with guitar, rumba box, bongo and banjo sounds. 

Blue Beat (1950s)

Mento remained a popular homegrown style until the development of Jamaican R&B (Blue Beat) in the late ‘50s. Local artistes began to record music by renting studio facilities to remake international tunes with a stylistic twist. This new sound was initially identical to American R&B but soon developed its own sound which ultimately led to Ska.

Ska (1960s)

Fusing Mento, Jazz, and R&B was a popular sound around the island throughout the early 1960s. Jamaican musicians, who had been engaged in swing and R&B, developed a native dance music known as ska. Ska is a fast-paced genre characterised by a jumpy pulse; its upbeat rhythm reflected the mood in the then-newly autonomous country during independence from Britain in 1962! The jubilant melodies captured the country of Jamaica’s mood of liberation, but ska’s dominant sound had run its course by the mid-1960s.

Rocksteady (1960s)

Some artistes considered Ska too fast to follow so they adapted to a gentler tempo. Rocksteady grew in popularity when rhythms became more relaxed, making songs easier to dance to. The main difference between Ska and Rocksteady is the beat though dances were similar in movement. Rocksteady’s musical style brought fame to performers like the Heptones, Hopeton Lewis, and Alton Ellis, to dominate the local music scene for 2 years before being superseded by Reggae.

Reggae (1960s)

In the late 1960s the island was on the brink of civil war, with political unrest and volatile streets. Lyrics became more conscious and words of revolution changed the sound vibe; Reggae reflected this new Jamaica. With a sudden rise in the presence of Rastafarianism, Rocksteady started to fuse with traditional local influences including the Mento shuffle and Buru/Nyabinghi drumming rhythms. Foreign influences from calypso, R&B, and funk also played part. Reggae’s name was reportedly unintentionally coined from the 1968 single "Do the Reggay" by Toots and the Maytals. The slower resultant beat became a signature sound of a new style and genre.

3 principle reggae rhythms include:

  • Steppers: This features a steady pulse on the bass drum, often doubled by the bass guitar. "Red, Gold, and Green" by Burning Spear is a strong example of this beat.

  • Rockers: This offers a similar pulse but with more space for syncopation. It’s closely associated with the rhythm section of Sly and Robbie, who helped develop the famous "rub-a-dub" sound.

  • One drop: This features a steady pulse with a backbeat accent from drums. It acquired its name from the exemplar song "One Drop" by Bob Marley & the Wailers.

Through trailblazing artistes like Bob Marley and the Wailers, Reggae has since grown to become a global sensation recognized in 2018 as a cultural institution by UNESCO.

Dancehall (1970s)

Dancehall genre emerged using digital reggae-influenced ‘riddims’. The cultural sounds prevalent in the late ‘70s were now accompanied by a more abrasive musical style. A trending crowd appeal in the ‘70s to dance at local parties blossomed in the ‘80s and cultivated the art of deejaying. Artistes of the 1980s and ’90s refined the practice of deejaying over instrumentals (referred to as ‘toasting’) to become heirs to reggae’s politicization of music. Dancehall became not just the place where a bash was held, but also the label for the vibrant genre itself.

Popular Jamaican music has always been a cauldron of native creativity, mixed with global influences. The answer to, “what music is popular in Jamaica?” has varied over the years. Our cultural styles continue to inspire global modern music, completing the creative cycle that will undoubtedly continue to produce compositions lined by our indigenous sounds.

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