Music of Jamaica
There is a variety of music that makes up Jamaican folk music, including genres reggae, rocksteady, djing, and jazz. There is also lesser known music such as ska, mento, dub, and dancehall. All of them have a place in Jamaica’s culture and some have even shaped the world we live in today. The music genres largely became popular in Jamaica in the late 1900s spreading and building off of each other to become new kinds of music. Djing was built off of a kind of music that started in Jamaica called “toasting”, and reggae branched from dancehall music in the 1970s. Jamaican music also holds famous names in history such as Bob Marley with his band The Wailers and Harry Belafonte who wrote the song “Day-O”, introducing the genre of mento music to America. This page explores the different kinds of music in Jamaica, how they started, and how the music influences our everyday lives.
Mento/Calypso
Mento and calypso styles of music are often confused for each other because of there similarities in there music but they were started in two different places. Mento started in Jamaica but calypso started in Trinidad and Tobago, another island in the Caribbean. In Jamaica mento influenced artists in creating other genres such as reggae and ska building and exploring new music. Because Calypso is often confused as Mento the music also has an effect on Jamaica's musical culture. Some famous artist who created Mento or Calypso music is Lord Flea, Count Lasher, Byron Lee, Fab 5, Lovindeer, and Harry Belafonte. Belafonte introduced this music to America creating songs like Day-O and was named the "King of Calypso".
Mento music example
Jazz
In the 20th century the level of jazz musicians in Jamaica rose, but most jazz musicians moved from Jamaica to London or the U.S. to be more seen for their music. In Jamaica there was not enough jazz places or jazz lovers for the musicians to make a name for themselves. Some have earned their names' in the U.S. history books becoming well known in their style of music.
Reggae
Reggae is one of Jamaica's most well known kind of music because of the famous musician Bob Marley. He and his band The Wailers put Reggae music in the history books singing of love and peace in a world of human beings. The music branched from Ska and Rocksteady in the late 1960s around the same time as toasting did.
Ska
Bob Marley song One Love, example of reggae music
The style of Ska music started in Jamaica in the lat 1950s. There were three main waves of Ska music in Jamaica. The first in the 1960s, the second in the 1970s, and the third in the 1980s and 90s. In the 1960s it was the dominant genre in Jamaica, and many kinds of music came from it.
Toasting/DJing
DJing evolved from the style of music Toasting which was like chanting over a beat. In Jamaican culture the DJ is the guy who talks (MC) and the person who picks the music is the selector. In the 1960s the chanting came to be more like roasting celebrities and other people for fun becoming more complex which got the genre into the popularity category. There is different elements of Hip Hop in DJing and in Jamaican culture. Some famous people from this genre are Sir Lord Comic, King Stitt, and Count Matchuki.
Rocksteady
Example of toasting music in the 80s
Rocksteady was said to be the music of the "rude boys" which included the Wailers and the The Clarendonians. The Desmond Dekker's "007" brought popularity to the genre in Jamaica.