Unit 208 – Music style development ‘Reggae’By Stephen May11 CME

Location of Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, located in the northwestern Caribbean Sea, about 90 miles south of Cuba.

Location - Caribbean SeaCoordinates - 18°15′N 77°30′WArchipelago - Greater AntillesArea - 10,911 km2 (4,213 sq. mi)Area rank - 71stLength - 248 km (154.1 mi)Width - 84 km (52.2 mi)Coastline - 1,022 km (635 mi)Highest elevation - 2,256 m (7,402 ft.)Highest point - Blue Mountain Peak

History of Jamaica

Jamaica was inhabited by Arawak Indians when Columbus explored it in 1494 and named it St. Iago. It remained under Spanish rule until 1655, when it became a British possession. Buccaneers operated from Port Royal, also the capital, until it fell into the sea in an earthquake in 1692. Disease decimated the Arawak's, so black slaves were imported to work on the sugar plantations. During the 17th and 18th centuries the British were consistently harassed by the Maroons, armed bands of freed slaves roaming the countryside. Abolition of the slave trade (1807), emancipation of the slaves (1833), and a drop in sugar prices eventually led to a depression that resulted in an uprising in 1865.

The following year Jamaica became a Crown colony, and conditions improved considerably. Introduction of bananas reduced dependence on sugar. On May 5, 1953, Jamaica gained internal autonomy, and, in 1958, superheaded the organization of the West Indies Federation. A nationalist labor leader, Sir Alexander Bustamante, later campaigned to withdraw from the federation. After a referendum, Jamaica became independent on Aug. 6, 1962. Michael Manley, of the socialist People's National Party, became prime minister in 1972.

Reggae Artists Origin

Bob Marley was born on 6th February 1945 in Nine Mile, Saint Ann in Jamaica .He was give the birth name of Robert Nesta Marley and is also known as Tuff Gong.A popular Bob Marley song is Three Little Birds.

Toots Hibbert was born on 8th December 1942 in May Pen, Kinston in Jamiaca. He was given the birth name of Frederick Nathaniel HibbertA popular Toots Hibert song is Pressure Drop

Jimmy Cliff was born on 1st April 1948 in St. James in Jamaica. Jimmy Cliff was given the birth name James Chambers. A popular Jimmy Cliff sing is I Can See Clearly Now

Reggae Songs information

Reggae music started at around 1960 in the slums of Kingston Jamaica in a time where the local bands were playing a musical mixture of American R&B, Caribbean. Reggae music is based on a rhythmic style which is characterized by accents on the off beat which is referred to as the skank and it is normally slower than both Ska and rock steady. Many people regard “People funny boy’’ by Lee Perry as the first true Reggae song.

Hurricane Hattie

Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. It is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the upbeat. In the early 1960s, Ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods. Later it became popular with many skinheads.

Music historians typically divide the history of Ska into three periods: the original Jamaican scene of the 1960s (First Wave); the English 2 Tone Ska revival of the late 1970s (Second Wave); and the third wave Ska movement, which started in the 1980s (Third Wave) and rose to popularity in the US in the 1990s.

A good example of this is “Hurricane Hattie” By Jimmy Cliff. It starts with a short drum lick and features off beat chords on harmonica and piano and follows a 12 bar structure very similar to 12 bar blues.

Run For Cover

Lee Scratch Perry. This song was recorded in 1967 and is an early example of the crossover from rocksteady to reggae. It starts with the familiar drum lick and has the off-beat chords on piano and guitar. There are also vocal harmonies and a bass groove. It is quite a slow tempo for reggae. Its lyrics attack his previous employer, Clement Dodd.

People Funny Boy

Reggae music started at around 1960 in the slums of Kingston Jamaica in a time where the local bands were playing a musical mixture of American R&B, Caribbean. Reggae music is based on a rhythmic style which is characterized by accents on the off beat which is referred to as the skank and it is normally slower than both Ska and rock steady. Many people regard “People funny boy’’ by Lee Perry as the first true Reggae song.This song starts with the drum lick, and uses the off beat chords on guitar. It is a faster tempo than ‘Run for Cover’ and shows the development of the reggae style into what we are used to hearing today.

Pressure Drop

Toots Hibbert was born on 8th December 1942 in May Pen, Kinston in Jamiaca. He was given the birth name of Frederick Nathaniel HibbertA popular Toots Hibert song is Pressure Drop

This song appeared in the film ‘The Harder They Come’ which helped to introduce Reggae to the rest of the world. It also starts with a drum lick and has the off-beat guitar chords throughout.

Three Little Birds

Bob Marley was born on 6th February 1945 in Nine Mile, Saint Ann in Jamaica .He was give the birth name of Robert Nesta Marley and is also known as Tuff Gong.A popular Bob Marley song is Three Little Birds.

This is a typical Reggae song. It uses the familiar off-beat chords and drum groove associated with Reggae. The piece begins with a drum lick, which is typical of many Reggae songs. The chords are very simple and the piece has a clear structure of chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus.

Red Red Wine

UB40 are a Birmingham based reggae band who had a hit with Red, Red Wine in 1983. The song begins with the short drum lick but is also joined by the vocalist. It follows the traditional off beat feel with the guitar and keyboards, and has the groovy bass riff. The middle section of the song features a ‘rap’ section, showing a development of the style and a fusion with another genre.

Love Is My Religion

This is a song by Ziggy Marley, Bob Marley’s son. It is the title song of the album which was released in 2006. It won a grammy for best reggae album.

It starts with a very short drum lick, but immediately falls into the familiar off beat feel with the guitars and a bass riff. It features vocal harmonies in the chorus. It has a more ‘produced’ sound than earlier reggae recordings, highlighting the progress made in recording technology.

Rastafarianism

Rastafarianism is a religious movement (especially popular in Jamaica — 5% to 10% of the population) that is less than a century old. It had its beginnings in a black, political movement that started in the 1920s/30s.

One of the early influences who paved the way for the rise of this cult was Marcus Garvey (1887-1940). Garvey, who lived in New York City, believed that the black man would never receive fair treatment in a white man’s world. He thus organized a “back-to-Africa” movement that attracted thousands of followers among the poor blacks of certain large-city urban areas. Garvey was convicted of mail fraud, spent time in prison, and finally returned to his native Jamaica in 1927.

At about the same time, Garvey allegedly “prophesied” that a black king would be crowned in Africa, and through that monarch deliverance for dark-skin people would be realized eventually. Garvey himself never joined the subsequent religious movement that became known as Rastafarianism.

In 1930, a man by the name of Ras Tafari Makonnen (1893-1975) was crowned as emperor of Ethiopia. He became more popularly known as Haile Selassie I (signifying, “Power of the Trinity”), a name he chose for himself. Selassie was from a dynasty that boasted of having descended from a union between King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (of which there is no biblical evidence). At his coronation, he was exalted as “King of Kings, Lord of Lords, His Imperial Majesty of the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God.” In the minds of many, Selassie was perceived as the “fulfillment” of Marcus Garvey’s earlier “prophecy.”

The followers of Selassie began to designate themselves as “Rastafarians,” after the emperor’s original name (though, apparently, Selassie himself never joined the sect). The main focus of the movement was in Jamaica, but many Rastafarians migrated to the United States in the 1960s/70s. They now number more than 1,000,000 world-wide.

Like many other systems, Rastafarianism has segments within it that advocate various shades of religious ideas. But these sects have one thing in common. Each teaches doctrines that are antagonistic to the Christian system as revealed in the New Testament. Here is a brief listing of some of the false ideas associated with this religious movement.

Ska

*Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. It is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the upbeat. In the early 1960s, Ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods. Later it became popular with many skinheads.

Music historians typically divide the history of Ska into three periods: the original Jamaican scene of the 1960s (First Wave); the English 2 Tone Ska revival of the late 1970s (Second Wave); and the third wave Ska movement, which started in the 1980s (Third Wave) and rose to popularity in the US in the 1990s.

A good example of this is “Hurricane Hattie” By Jimmy Cliff*see Wikipedia

Rock Steady

*Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor to ska and a precursor to reggae, Rocksteady was performed by Jamaican vocal harmony groups such as The Gaylads, The Maytals, The Heptones and The Paragons. The term Rocksteady comes from a dance style that was mentioned in the Alton Ellis song "Rock Steady". Dances performed to Rocksteady were less energetic than the earlier Ska dances. The first international Rocksteady hit was "Hold Me Tight" (1968) by the American soul singer Johnny Nash; it reached number one in Canada.

A good example of this is “The Tide Is High” By The Paragons*see Wikipedia

Current Reggae Music

A current Ska band is “Madness” from London. They achieved most of their success through the early to mid 80’s as they spent over 4 years in the UK charts over a course of 10 years. In 1986 the band split as two singles failed to make it in the top 40. In 1991 they re-released the single “It must be love” which reached no.6 in the UK charts and they also released “Divine Madness” which reached no.1 in the album charts which followed up with them revealing they were planning a reunion tour later in 1992.

A more modern Reggae band is “The Expendables” which originated from Santa Cruz in California. They formed in 1997 and use many styles of music including Reggae, Ska, Punk Rock and Surf Rock.

One Love Concert

In the One Love Concert in 1978 Bob Marley and The Wailers performed in Kingston’s National Arena with the other main Reggae artists in an attempt to link the political parties that were fighting.

Bob Marley joined the hands of Michael Manley and Edward Seaga on the stage after the concert having seen the leaders weren’t constantly at each others throat which cooled down the conflict.

At One Love Festival you see familiar artists that supported them every year alongside touring artists that you grew up listening to side by side with up and coming exciting new acts. All paying homage to the philosophy of The One Love Festival as they play Conscience Roots, Dub Music and enjoy all the sub genres of that.

Reggae Fashion - Dreadlocks

As Reggae became more popular in the 70’s, dreadlocks became the fashion statement which was relatable to Reggae and was worn by prominent artists most notable, Bob Marley. Dreadlocks were also portrayed as part of gang culture in movies. Dreadlocks aren’t always worn for religious reasons as many people wear them for style.

As the Rasta style was popular, that fashion became a trend and many hair products for that style were released such as wax, shampoo and jewellery. Also multicoloured hair extensions were created to give synthetic locks and dread perms which chemicals are used to treat hair.

Reggae Colours

There are 4 important colours that are related to Reggae; black, red, gold and green

- Black represents the people of Africa. - Red stands for the blood of the people that was shed or the Rastafarian Church - Gold is for the Gold that was stolen fromthem. - Green is for the land of Ethiopia.

Reggae Fashion - Rastacap

The Rastacap (also known as ‘Tam’ is worn by Rastafarians to tuck their dreadlocks away. They are usually crocheted and mainly worn by men.

Reggae Fashion

With Reggae fashion there is no particular style of dress but the colours are important.

Marijuana

Marijuana is used as there is a belief that it brings them closer to God and opens your mind to receive God’s testimony. Cannabis is called ‘Ganja’ in Jamaican slang and often appears in Reggae lyrics.