Rude boy is asubculture that originated from 1960s Jamaican street culture.[1] In the late 1970s, there was a revival in England of the termsrude boy andrude girl, among other variations likerudeboy andrudebwoy, being used to describe fans oftwo-tone andska. This revival of the subculture and term was partially the result ofJamaican immigration to the UK and theso-called "Windrush" generation. The use of these terms moved into the more contemporaryska punk movement as well. In the UK and especially Jamaica, the termsrude boy andrude girl are used in a way similar togangsta,yardie, or badman.[2]
The termrude boy, and the rude boy subculture, arose from the poorer sections ofKingston, Jamaica, and was associated with violent discontented youths.[3] Along withska androcksteady music, many rude boys favored sharp suits, thin ties, andpork pie orTrilby hats, showing an influence of the fashions of USjazz musicians andsoul music artists. It is also believed that the rude boy style was influenced by Sean Connery's sharp, tight suits worn when he portrayed James Bond, testified to by several ska songs that made reference to James Bond. Well-known cowboy and gangster/outlaw films from that period were also influential factors in shaping the rude boy image, as scholars like Rob Wilson, Christopher Leigh Connory, andDeborah A. Thomas have shown.[4][5] In that time period, unemployed Jamaican youths sometimes found temporary employment fromsound system operators to disrupt competitors' dances (leading to the termdancehall crasher).[6] The violence that sometimes occurred at dances and its association with the rude boy lifestyle gave rise to a slew of releases by artists who addressed the rude boys directly with lyrics that either promoted or rejected rude boy violence, for example the 1967 song "Rudy a Message to You" byDandy Livingstone.
Starting in the 1970s, Jamaicanreggae music replaced the ska and rocksteady music associated with the rude boys. In the 1980s,dancehall became the main Jamaican popular music genre, drawing some parallels with the earlier rude boys in its culture and lyrical content.[7][8][9]
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In the 1960s, theJamaican diaspora introduced rude boy music and fashion to the United Kingdom, which influenced themod andskinhead subcultures.[10][11] In the late 1970s, the termrude boy and rude boy fashions came back into use after the2 tone bandthe Specials (notably with a cover of "A Message to You Rudy") and their record label2 Tone Records instigated a brief but influential ska revival.[12] In this same spirit,the Clash contributed "Rudie Can't Fail" on their 1979 albumLondon Calling, andThe Ruts their 1980 single "Staring at the Rude Boys". In more recent times in multicultural Britain, the termrudeboy has become associated with street or urban culture, and is a common greeting.[citation needed] The termrudeboy has become associated with music genres such asragga,jungle,drum and bass,UK garage, andgrime – although is still used by manyska andska punk bands, old and new – predominantly in the UK and USA.
