Culture reggae biography wikipedia

The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. Jamaican reggae music evolved out of the earlier genres mento , ska and rocksteady. The immediate origins of reggae were in ska and rocksteady; from the latter, reggae took over the use of the bass as a percussion instrument. Stylistically, reggae incorporates some of the musical elements of rhythm and blues, jazz, mento a celebratory, rural folk form that served its largely rural audience as dance music and an alternative to the hymns and adapted chanteys of local church singing , [ 7 ] calypso , [ 8 ] and also draws influence from traditional African folk rhythms.

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One of the most easily recognizable elements is offbeat rhythms; staccato chords played by a guitar or piano or both on the offbeats of the measure. The tempo of reggae is usually slower-paced than both ska and rocksteady. The genre of reggae music is led by the drum and bass. The bass sound in reggae is thick and heavy, and equalized so the upper frequencies are removed and the lower frequencies emphasized.

The guitar in reggae usually plays on the offbeat of the rhythm. Reggae is noted for its tradition of social criticism and religion in its lyrics, [ 20 ] although many reggae songs discuss lighter, more personal subjects, such as love and socializing. Reggae is deeply linked to Rastafari , an Afrocentric religion which developed in Jamaica in the s, aiming at promoting pan-Africanism.