![]() Marketed as a calypso singer, he sold millions of albums, though his records were some way different from the brassy, satirical, and upbeat calypso music that was then the rage in Trinidad And Tobago, calypso’s homeland. Harry Belafonte, who was born in New York, was initially a singer of lounge jazz and pop, but he grew increasingly attracted to folkier sounds and found fame in the mid-50s by exploring the acoustic songs his Jamaican mother and father had enjoyed. Jamaican music first became a craze in the mid-50s, a time before reggae existed. Reggae is everywhere, if you take the time to look for it. It’s a long, unlikely tale that takes in everything from hard rock to rave, jazz to modern pop. This feature celebrates the often forgotten influence reggae has had on other music, informing, energizing, beautifying, and giving some sass to records that sometimes didn’t even realize they were influenced by the music of Jamaica. But it’s easy to forget the other paths reggae music has taken. They know it has survived for decades in one form or another, because it remains powerful despite being infinitely diluted.įor sure, if you want real, proper, rootsy reggae, go to the source. Fret not that reggae might lose its power the more it is heard, used – even abused reggae musicians don’t worry about that. Wanna give your music a bit of flavor? Add a few drops of reggae. So it’s little wonder that it crops up everywhere, from gnarled AOR to dastardly punk, from streetwise hip-hop to guitar-slinging blues. Listen to our reggae playlist on Spotify. ![]() Kids who can just about toddle can dip their knees to it lovers “wine” their hips to it. It offers a sense of roots to those who wish to demonstrate their authenticity. It has a certain lyrical gravitas, referring back to Biblical times. It is complex enough to attract progressively-minded musicians it is accessible enough for anyone to be able to dance to it. It’s considered “cool” by people with no connection to Jamaica, reggae music’s place of origin. It echoes in mainstream British pop it loaned its culture to hip-hop. Reggae’s influence is felt (often literally, thanks to heavy bass) wherever rock and pop are played. It is everywhere, whether you notice it or not.īut don’t just expect to find it in the obvious places. But one form of music which emanated from just one island in the Caribbean became massive worldwide: reggae music. Even fairly mainstream genres of music fail to translate across the oceans: British indie remains only a cult attraction in the States, and, despite decades of publicity, it’s only in recent years that country music has made itself felt in the UK. You don’t hear soca on British pop radio bhangra never broke big in the US.
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