- The Reggae Source – Includes reviews of new releases, tour information, Real Audio sound samples, news and links.
- About.com: Ska/Reggae GuideSite – Weekly articles, CD reviews band resources, MP3s, forum and chat, all available from this site run by Guide Bob Timm.
- AC’s Roots Reggae – Information about roots reggae artists, such as Luciano, Israel Vibration, and others, also with lyrics, album reviews, and links.
- African Reggae – Real Video and photos from the Ghana Reggae Sunsplash, Ampofo Acquah and Oboja Adu.
- All Music Guide: Lover’s Rock – Introduction to this UK reggae offshoot, popularized by artists including Gregory Isaacs.
- All Music Guide: Ragga – Introduction to ragga, a style of digital reggae music production, and its major artists and influences.
- All Music Guide: Reggae – Brief introduction to the Jamaican music style and related ones such as dub, ska, ragga, dancehall, rocksteady, and lovers rock.
- All Music Guide: Rocksteady – Introduction to rocksteady, the late 1960s outgrowth of ska that predated reggae.
- Classical Reggae Interviews – Interviews of famous reggae artists from around the world in english and german
- Ghetto Fabulous Movements – Reggae Sound Based out of Toronto Canada jugglin the best in dancehall reggae for the people of the world!
- Ireggae – Streaming reggae «sound station,» a California entertainment calendar, official artist pages, reggae interviews and links to other reggae sites.
- Irie Jam – Reggae, news, interviews in RealAudio, and CD reviews from a site based in Hartford, Connecticut.
- Irie Lion – Reggae information for Israel, Belgium, and the Netherlands. WIth concert and festival agendas and links, site hosting and creation, and an Irie reggae name engine.
- Jammin’ Reggae Archives – One of the original (and also one of the largest) reggae sites on the web, with a wealth of information on artists, songs, tour schedules and resources. Also featuring a weekly-updated 24/7 webcast.
- Jolly Boys and Mento – History of Jamaican mento music, with mento bibliography.
- Music Freak Central – Features a reggae sound system encyclopedia, and downloadable reggae music samples.
- Naptown Reggae – Information including show dates and food for music fans in the Indianapolis area. Covering reggae, dancehall, dub, ska, lover’s rock, roots, soca, salsa, and calypso.
- Natural Mystic Reggae Music – A reggae portal with links to archived reggae shows, RealAudio files, online music streams, shops, and MP3 sites.
- Half Pint – Official site for the legendary reggae singer. With biography, news, discography, show information, and merchandise.
- Henry Turner Jr. and Flavor – A Louisiana-based band blending reggae, funk, blues, and gospel to form a unique vibe.
- I ROOTS – A Swedish reggae band. Featuring pictures, MP3s, and Bob Marley MIDIs.
- Indika – Band bringing reggae flavor in the style of Jamaica’s Sunsplash Festival to every performance. With background, show schedule, member profiles, RealAudio clips, and pictures.
- Inus Aso – A group from Montréal, Canada. With founder’s biography, show dates, MP3s, pictures, and forum.
- Irie Time – Reggae and soca band from Houston, Texas. Includes sound files, articles, and profiles.
- Jah Shaka – Complete discography plus links, flyers and pictures of the «dub warrior».
- Audiomaxxx – Features current and archived dancehall/reggae music in RealAudio format. Updated often with new audio clips, pictures, and links.
- Caribbean Vibe – Online version of the New York entertainment magazine. Features caribbean news, upcoming events and artists pictures.
- Claat – News network and e-zine based in Germany and mainly focused on dancehall reggae, featuring new releases, reviews, interviews, discographies and lyrics.
- Germaican Observer – English and German-language webzine on Jamaican music. With interviews, show reviews, and release information.
- JahWorks – An online, grassroots publication covering Caribbean and African-based music and culture that includes event listings, music reviews and informative, heartfelt articles.
- Montreal Dancehall – Offers coverage specific to Montreal, Canada; includes upcoming event listings, chart information, dancehall news and a discussion board.
- Now Urban – Online version of the South Florida based entertainment magazine. Reviews and covers events in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and South Beach.
- Reggae Reviews – Reviews of hundreds of reggae albums, plus books and videos.
- ReggaeTimes Magazine – Online version of popular and long-running reggae magazine. Featuring news, reviews, artists profiles, charts, promotions, and links.
- Rootz Reggae & Kulcha – Features articles about and interviews with artists, information about African and Black culture and a guide on the geography and colonial history of Jamaica.
Reggae is a music genre developed in Jamaica. Reggae may be used in a broad sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, including ska, rocksteady, dub, dancehall and ragga. The term may also be used to distinguish a particular style that originated in the late 1960s. Reggae is founded upon a rhythm style which is characterized by regular chops on the back beat, known as the «bang», played by a rhythm guitarist, and a bass drum hitting on the third beat of each measure, known as «one drop.» Characteristically, this beat is slower than in reggae’s precursors, ska and rocksteady. Reggae is often associated with the Rastafari movement, which influenced many prominent reggae musicians in the 1970s and 1980s. However, the subject matter of reggae songs deals with many subjects other than Rastafari, with love songs, sexual themes and broad social commentary being particularly well-represented.
Origins
See also Music of Jamaica
The correct spelling is Raggae, ffs. Its origins can be found in traditional African Caribbean music as well as US R&B. Ska and rocksteady are 1960s precursors of reggae. In 1963, Jackie Mittoo, pianist with the ska band The Skatalites was asked to run sessions and compose original music by record producer Coxsone Dodd at his Studio One record studio. Mittoo, with the help of drummer Lloyd Knibbs, turned the traditional ska beat into reggae, slowing the rhythm down in the process. Bob Marley, who popularized reggae worldwide, also recorded rocksteady records early in his career. By the late 1960s reggae was already getting radio play in the UK on John Peel’s radio show.
It is thought that the word «Reggae» was first used by the Ska group Toots and the Maytals, who coined the phrase in the title of their hit Do the Reggay in the early sixties.
Styles
Main article: List of genres of reggae
In Jamaica however, new styles are nowadays becoming more popular, among them, dancehall and ragga (also known as raggamuffin). Mixing techniques employed in dub, an instrumental sub-style of reggae, influenced hip hop, drum and bass and other styles. The toasting or dee jaying first used by artists such as U-Roy and Dillinger had a world-wide impact because Jamaican DJ Kool Herc used them as he pioneered a new style that subsequently became hip hop or rap music. In the Jamaican sense of the word, a «DJ» is an «MC» or rapper, whereas the term «DJ» describes the music selector in the U.S.. Therefore what is called dee jaying, toasting or chatting in Jamaica is called rapping in most other parts of the world.
Roots
Music of Jamaica
Kumina Nyabinghi
Mento Ska
Rocksteady Reggae
Sound systems Lovers rock
Dub Dancehall
Dub poetry Toasting
Raggamuffin Roots reggae
US UK
Timeline and Samples
Anglophone Caribbean
Anguilla – Antigua and Barbuda – Bahamas – Barbados – Bermuda – Caymans – Dominica – Grenada – Jamaica – Montserrat – St. Kitts and Nevis – St. Lucia – St. Vincent and the Grenadines – Trinidad and Tobago – Turks and Caicos – Virgin Islands
Other Caribbean
Aruba and the Dutch Antilles – Cuba – Dominican Republic – Haiti – Martinique and Guadeloupe – Puerto Rico
Main article: Roots reggae
Roots is the name given to specifically Rastafarian reggae music. It is a spiritual type of music, whose lyrics are predominantly in praise of Jah (God).
Recurrent lyrical themes include poverty and resistance to government oppression. The creative pinnacle of roots reggae is arguably in the late 1970s, with singers such as Johnny Clarke, Horace Andy, Barrington Levy, and Lincoln Thompson teaming up with studio producers including Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, King Tubby, and Coxsone Dodd. The experimental pioneering of such producers within often restricted technological parameters gave birth to dub music, and is seen by some music historians as one of the earliest (albeit analogue) contributions to the development of techno.
Roots reggae was an important part of Jamaican culture, and whilst other forms of reggae have replaced it in terms of popularity in Jamaica (Dancehall for instance), roots reggae has found a small, but growing, niche globally.
Social issues
One of the main themes of reggae music has been social liberation. This has both political and religious aspects.
Political awakening
The music attempts to raise the political consciousness of the audience:
The American dream
Is not what it seem.
Why do you slumber? (Jimmy Cliff, «American Dream» 1983)
Alternatives to orthodox religious dogma
It also militates for freedom from religious delusion:
Most people think
Great God will come from the sky
Take away everything
And make everybody feel high
But if you know what life is worth
You would look for yours on earth
And now you see the light
So stand up for your right. (Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, «Get Up, Stand Up»)
Freedom of religious expression
Repression of many kinds, and especially repression linked with the prohibition of ganja (marijuana), which is considered a sacrament by Rastafarians, is another recurring theme in the music.
Controversy
Quite a few of the most common themes found in reggae music have been viewed as controversial by many members of the public at various times. The most controversial of these themes have traditionally been the promotion of marijuana / cannabis usage , and the promotion of homophobic views. Other views prevalent in reggae music which have been the source of controversy at various times include black/african millitancy, misogyny , criticism of colonialisation, anti-poverty, criticism of political systems, criticism of racism and criticism of the colonial education system. Some of these themes like marijuana usage have been prevalent in reggae music throughout the recorded and un-recorded history of the music, whilst others such as homophobia are a more recent phenomenom relative to the history of reggae.
Cannabis
Bob Marley is a prominent marijuana iconThe promotion of the use of cannabis through both lyrics, images and lifestyle has been a staple of reggae since its inception. The prominence of marijuana usage in reggae primarily stems from reggae music’s origin as music derived from the musical tradition of the rastafarian religion, a religion within which marijuana usage is considered a sacrement. The controversy surrounding marijuana in Reggae has increased in proportion to the increased unacceptibility of marijuana in general society. For example Bob Marley’s famous Catch a Fire album cover showing him smoking a spliff was controversial at the time the album was first issued primarily for its novelty. That the album cover was issued at all indicates some difference in society’s views at the time, and such an album cover would never be issued by a major record label today. Peter Tosh was also renowned for his promotion of cannabis usage and lobbied for the decriminalization of marijuana. His most famous song is titled «Legalize It». Tosh was imprisoned multiple times in Jamaica for marijuana possession (Jamaica, incidentally, has some of the harshest anti-marijuana laws in the world) and often performed with a spliff in hand.
Homophobia
Reggae in general and the sub-genre of Reggae called Dancehall in particular has come under increased criticism from both Jamaican and International organisations for homophobic themes and lyrics. Many believe reggae music has prompted or incited instances of gay bashing.
Anti-homosexual or homophobic themes have been associated with dancehall music throughout its history. To a significant degree these themes stem from the anti-homosexual, though not necessarily violent, sentiment towards homosexuality of Jamaicans in general. A similar strong anti-homosexual sentiment is present in most English-speaking Caribbean nations. Homosexuality is illegal in Jamaica as well as in most former British colonies in the Caribbean.
Homophobic lyrics have been described by J-FLAG, a Jamaican gay rights organization, as one aspect of «widespread [Jamaican] cultural bias against homosexuals and bisexuals.» Artists whose music features homophobic lyrics have had concerts cancelled. Various artists have had international travel restrictions placed on them and have been investigated by international agencies including Scotland Yard on the accusation that the lyrics incite the audience to assault homosexuals. Many of the affected artists hold the opinion that such legal or commercial sanctions are essentially an attack against the artists freedom of speech.
The increased criticism of dancehall music by international organisations is often attributed to the increased international exposure of the music, especially with regards to international media and the Internet. Dancehall has always included themes of not only homophobia, but of violence, sexism, and misogyny as well, which have come under their share of criticism, as in this Village Voice review: «Whether the homophobia and misogyny (that also blight almost all current reggae) are carryovers from tight-assed, purse-mouthed, colonial-era Brit sexual fear or personal limitation, the result was lyrical statements too stupid to be spoken.»
Reggae music festivals
Jamaican reggae music festivals
Reggae Sunsplash, Ocho Rios, Jamaica,
Sting reggae music festival, Kingston, Jamaica
Reggae Sumfest, Montego Bay, Jamaica
International reggae music festivals
Soundsplash Eco Reggae Festival, Raglan, New Zealand
Westchester Reggae Fest, White Plains, NY. United States
Austin Marley/Reggae Festival, Austin, TX. United States
Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, Mendocino County, CA, United States
Reggae on the River, Humboldt County, CA, United States
two 77 splash, Amsterdam Netherlands
Reggae Sundance, Eindhoven Netherlands
LB27 Reggae Camp, Komarom, Hungary
Reggae on the Rocks, Morrison, CO, USA,
Rototom Sunsplash Festival, Osoppo, Udine, Italy,
So?a Reggae Riversplash, Tolmin, Slovenia,
Chiemsee Reggae Summer, Übersee, Germany
Summerjam, Cologne, Germany
MIDEM Reggae Showcase, Cannes, France
Notting Hill Carnival, London, UK
Bob Marley Outernational Day, Perth, Western Australia
International Reggae Festivals at ReggaeSeen
Spanish Reggae Festivals at Reggae News
Uppsala Reggae Festival, Sweden
Seasplash Reggae Festival, Pula, Croatia
Ostróda Reggae Festival, Ostróda, Poland
One Love Sound Fest, Wroc?aw, Poland
The Costarican Summerfest, be organized by exa fm, and exa reggae vibes and Chino Artavia.
Reggae Geel, Geel, Belgium
