Historical genre research

Reggae first emerged in Jamaica after the era of rocksteady ended. It was created by chopping chords that gave reggae music a distinctive sound.

From 1968-1970 reggae began to grow. During the period of reggae, the Rastafarian influence of roots reggae had not yet taken full effect. Instead, this period saw reggae begin to create that sound that distinguishes it from rocksteady; a slightly faster feel and heavy organ lines.

The lyrical focus of these tracks remained consistent with that of rocksteady with a predominant focus on love, however the influence of of the rastafarian movement began to rear its head in the 1970s, they leaned more towards more religious music.

As the early 1970s went on, reggae music began to gain international acclaim. A defining moment in its development was the 1973 film ‘The Harder They Come’, which showed the life of a young man trying to find his way in urban Jamaica. The film had a soundtrack full of reggae hits, and was instrumental in bringing Jimmy Cliff and reggae music to an international audience.  This song, performed by Jimmy Cliff, featured on the soundtrack of the film and helped bring reggae into the mainstream.

One of the reasons reggae music had and continues to have such an impact is the weighty religious, social and political themes that enveloped the genre in the 1970s. The origin for this was the growth of the Rastafarian movement, a beliefs system prevalent in downtown Trenchtown, from where many reggae musicians emerged. Rastafari’s doctrines of peace, praise to God or ‘Jah’ and social commentary on perceived injustices of the Western World or ‘Babylon’ all became the core of reggae music during this period, also known as ‘roots reggae.’

By 1975 Reggae Music was in a golden age. Producers such as Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd and Bunny Lee worked behind a plethora of extremely talented reggae musicians and bands such as Bob Marley, Gregory Isaacs, Max Romeo, The Abyssinians, Burning Spear and Horace Andy. Bob Marley and Dennis Brown took it to the next level and took reggae to an international level and became two of the greatest musicians.

In the early 1980's Jamaican music advanced when the new technology advanced. Reggae with a message behind the song moved aside for dancehall and other sub genres of reggae.