The music of Jamaica includesJamaican folk music and many popular genres, such asmento,ska,rocksteady,reggae,dub music,dancehall,reggae fusion and related styles.
Reggae is especially popular through the fame ofBob Marley. Jamaican music's influence on music styles in other countries includes the practice oftoasting, which was brought toNew York City and evolved intorapping. British genres such asLovers rock,jungle music andgrime are also influenced by Jamaican music.
Mento is a style of Jamaican music that predates and has greatly influencedska andreggae music.Lord Flea andCount Lasher are two of the more successful mento artists. Well-known mento songs includeDay-O,Jamaica Farewell andLinstead Market. Mento is often confused withCalypso music, a musical form fromTrinidad and Tobago.
As in manyAnglo-Caribbean islands, thecalypso music of Trinidad and Tobago has become part of theculture of Jamaica. Jamaica's own local musicmento is often confused with calypso music. Although the two share many similarities, they are separate and distinct musical forms. During the mid-20th century, mento was conflated with calypso, and mento was frequently referred to ascalypso,kalypso andmento calypso; mento singers frequently used calypso songs and techniques. As in calypso, mento uses topical lyrics with a humorous slant, commenting on poverty and other social issues. Sexual innuendos are also common.
TheTrinidadian calypso andsoca music are popular in Jamaica. Popular calypso/soca artists from Jamaica includeByron Lee, Fab 5, and Lovindeer.Harry Belafonte (born in the U.S., raised in Jamaica from age 5 to 13) introduced American audiences to calypso music (which had originated in Trinidad and Tobago in the early 20th century), and Belafonte was dubbed the "King of Calypso".
From early in the 20th century, Jamaica produced many notable jazz musicians. In this development the enlightened policy of theAlpha Boys' School inKingston, which provided training and encouragement in music education for its pupils, was very influential. Also significant was the brass band tradition of the island, strengthened by opportunities for musical work and training in military contexts. However, limited scope for making a career playing jazz in Jamaica resulted in many local jazz musicians leaving the island to settle in London or in the United States.
Among the most notable Jamaican jazz instrumentalists who made successful careers abroad was alto saxophonistJoe Harriott, now regarded internationally as one of the most original and innovative of jazz composers. Also internationally successful were trumpetersDizzy Reece,Leslie 'Jiver' Hutchinson andLeslie Thompson, bassistColeridge Goode, guitaristErnest Ranglin and pianistMonty Alexander.
Harriott, Goode, Hutchinson and Thompson built their careers in London, along with many other instrumentalists, such as pianistYorke de Souza and the outstanding saxophonistBertie King, who later returned to Jamaica and formed a mento-style band. Reece and Alexander worked in the US. SaxophonistWilton 'Bogey' Gaynair settled in Germany working mainly with Kurt Edelhagen's orchestra.
Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements ofCaribbeanmento andCalypso music calypso withUnited States Americanjazz andrhythm and blues. The first ever ska recording was made byCount Ossie, aNyabinghi drummer from the rasta community.[1] 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.
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. The recent revival ofska jazz Jamaican Jazz attempts to bring back the sound of early Jamaican music artists of the late 1950s.
Along with the rise of ska came the popularity ofdeejays such asSir Lord Comic,King Stitt and pioneerCount Matchuki, who began talking stylistically over the rhythms of popular songs at sound systems. In Jamaican music, the Deejay is the one who talks (known elsewhere as theMC) and theselector is the person who chooses the records. The popularity of Deejays as an essential component of the sound system, and created a need for instrumental songs, as well as instrumental versions of popular vocal songs.
Toasting is a type of lyrical chanting over the beat. While Dancehall music involves deejays, they are the ones chanting or humming over the rhythm or track. With the rise of many different genres, toasting became popular in Jamaica during the 1960s and 1970s.
In the late 1960s, producers such asKing Tubby andLee Perry began stripping the vocals away from tracks recorded for sound system parties. With the bare beats and bass playing and the lead instruments dropping in and out of the mix, Deejays begantoasting, or delivering humorous and often provoking jabs at fellow deejays and local celebrities. Over time, toasting became an increasingly complex activity, and became as big a draw as the dance beats played behind it.
The basic elements ofhip-hop—boasting raps, rival posses, uptown throwdowns, and political commentary—were all present in Jamaican music Whenrocksteady andreggae bands looked to make their music a form of national and even international black resistance, they used Jamaican culture.[2] Jamaican music, moved back and forth between the predominance of boasting andtoasting songs packed with 'slackness' and sexual innuendo and a more topical, political, 'conscious' style.
Rocksteady was the music of Jamaica'srude boys by the mid-1960s, whenThe Wailers andThe Clarendonians dominated the charts.Desmond Dekker's "007" brought international attention to the new genre. The mix put heavy emphasis on the bass line, as opposed to ska's strong horn section, and therhythm guitar began playing on the upbeat. Session musicians likeSupersonics,Soul Vendors,Jets andJackie Mittoo (of the Skatalites) became popular during this period.
Reggae is one of the music genres first created in Jamaica. In the late 1960s, around the same time of toasting, reggae grew out of early Ska and Rocksteady.
Reggae became popular around the world, due in large part to the international success of artists likeBob Marley,Peter Tosh andBunny Wailer. Marley was viewed as aRastafarian messianic figure by some fans, particularly throughout theCaribbean, Africa, and amongNative Americans andAustralian Aborigines. His lyrics about love, redemption and natural beauty captivated audiences, and he gained headlines for negotiating truces between the two opposing Jamaican political parties (at the One Love Concert), led byMichael Manley (PNP) andEdward Seaga.
By 1973,dub music had emerged as a distinct reggae genre, and heralded the dawn of theremix. Developed by record producers such asLee "Scratch" Perry andKing Tubby, dub featured previously recorded songs remixed with prominence on the bass. Often the lead instruments and vocals would drop in and out of the mix, sometimes processed heavily with studio effects. King Tubby's advantage came from his intimate knowledge with audio gear, and his ability to build his own sound systems and recording studios that were superior to the competition. He became famous for his remixes of recordings made by others, as well as those he recorded in his own studio.
Other popular music forms that arose during the 1970s include: Briton (Linton Kwesi Johnson'sdub poetry);Sly & Robbie'srockers reggae, which drew onAugustus Pablo'smelodica, becoming popular with artists such asThe Mighty Diamonds andThe Gladiators;Joe Gibbs' mellower rockers reggae, including music byCulture andDennis Brown;Burning Spear's distinctive style, as represented by the albumsMarcus Garvey andMan in the Hills; and harmonic, spiritually oriented Rasta music like that ofThe Abyssinians,Black Uhuru andThird World. In 1975,Louisa Mark had a hit with "Caught You in a Lie", beginning a trend of British performers making romantic, ballad-oriented reggae calledlovers rock.
Reggae and ska had a massive influence on Britishpunk rock andnew wave bands of the 1970s, such asThe Clash,Elvis Costello and the Attractions,The Police,The Slits, andThe Ruts. Ska revival bands such asThe Specials,Madness andThe Selecter developed the2 Tone genre.
During the 1980s, the most popular music styles in Jamaica weredancehall andragga. Dancehall is essentially speechifying with musical accompaniment, including a basic drum beat (most often played on electric drums). The lyrics moved away from the political and spiritual lyrics popular in the 1970s and concentrate more on less serious issues ragga is characterized by the use of computerized beats and sequenced melodic track.
Ragga is usually said to have been invented with the song "Under MiSleng Teng" byWayne Smith. Ragga barely edged out dancehall as the dominant form of Jamaican music in the 1980s. DJShabba Ranks and vocalist teamChaka Demus and Pliers proved more enduring than the competition, and helped inspire an updated version of therude boy culture calledraggamuffin.
Dancehall was sometimes violent in lyrical content, and several rival performers made headlines with their feuds across Jamaica (most notablyBeenie Man versusBounty Killer). Dancehall emerged from pioneering recordings in the late 1970s byBarrington Levy, withRoots Radics backing and Junjo Lawes as producer. The Roots Radics were the pre-eminent backing band for the dancehall style.Yellowman,Ini Kamoze,Charlie Chaplin and General Echo helped popularize the style along with producers likeSugar Minott.
The 1980s saw a rise in reggae music from outside of Jamaica. During this time, reggae particularly influencedAfrican popular music, where Sonny Okusuns,John Chibadura,Lucky Dube andAlpha Blondy became stars. The 1980s saw the end of the dub era in Jamaica, although dub has remained a popular and influential style in the UK, and to a lesser extent throughout Europe and the US. Dub in the 1980s and 1990s has merged withelectronic music.
The late 2000s saw large local success for dancehall artists likePopcaan,Vybz Kartel, Shalkal,Konshens,Mr. Vegas andMavado. In the next decade, others artists such asTommy Lee Sparta,Alkaline, and Cashtro Troy, would also rise to the dancehall scene.[3][4][5][6][7] By the late 2010s, music in Western markets saw influences of dancehall in pop music, including Drake's "One Dance" and "Controlla" (2016) and Rihanna's "Work" (2016).
Reggae fusion emerged as a popular subgenre in the late 1990s. It is a mixture of reggae ordancehall with elements of other genres.[8] It is closely related toragga music. It originated inJamaica, Reggae fusion artists from Jamaica with a #1 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 hit includeIni Kamoze with "Here Comes the Hotstepper" in 1994,Super Cat (featured on Sugar Ray's song "Fly"),Shaggy (2 #1 hits, like "Angel"),Rikrok (featured on Shaggy's song "It Wasn't Me"),Sean Paul (3 #1 hits, like "Get Busy"),Sean Kingston with "Beautiful Girls" in 2007, andOMI (singer) with "Cheerleader" in 2015. All are fromKingston, except Ini Kamoze, Rikrok, and OMI.
The Bongo Nation is a distinct group of Jamaicans possibly descended fromthe Congo. They are known forKumina, which refers to both areligion and a form of music. Kumina's distinctive drumming style became one of the roots of Rastafarian drumming, itself the source of the distinctive Jamaican rhythm heard in ska, rocksteady and reggae. The modern intertwining of Jamaican religion and music can be traced back to the 1860s, when thePocomania andRevival Zion churches drew onAfrican traditions, and incorporated music into almost every facet ofworship. Later, this trend spread intoHindu communities, resulting in baccra music.
The spread of Rastafari into urban Jamaica in the 1960s transformed the Jamaican music scene, which incorporateddrumming (played at grounation ceremonies) and which has led to today's popular music. Many of the above-mentioned music and dance have been studied byRex Nettleford artistic director (retired professor and vice chancellor of The University of the West Indies) and Marjorie Whyle Musical Director (Caribbean Musicologist, pianist, drummer, arranger lecturer at the University of the West Indies). Since 1962, this volunteer company of dancers and musicians have had many of these dances in its core repertoire and have performed worldwide to large audiences, including The British Royal family.
Other trends included minimalist digital tracks, which began withDave Kelly's "Pepper Seed" in 1995, alongside the return of love balladeers likeBeres Hammond. American, British, andEuropeanelectronic musicians used reggae-oriented beats to create further hybrid electronic music styles. Dub,world music, andelectronic music continue to influence music in the 2000s. One of the latest developments is a musical form calledLinguay which was founded by record producerLissant Folkes in 2013.
JaFolk Mix is a term coined by Jamaican musician Joy Fairclough, to mean the mix of Jamaican Folk Music with any foreign and local styles of music and the evolution of a new sound created by their fusion. This is the latest Jamaican Music stylistic development of the late 20th century and 21st century. Jamaican music continues to influence the world's music. Many efforts at studying and copying Jamaican music has introduced the world to this new form of music as the copied styles are performed with accents linguistically and musically slanted to that of the home nation in which it is being studied, copied and performed.
9. "Jamaican Music Genres".www.heyjamaica.com. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
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