Jamaican Music Insights
Recently Jamaican music popularity increased dramatically. The island music mainly consists of Reggae, but it is a blend of Ska, Dancehall and Rocksteady also. The music and its beat is a major part of Jamaican life and this is how the island is described by the travel industry through film and other various media.
The term “reggae” originated from the Jamaican word “streggae”, which means a woman or man who dresses raggedy. The story says that one day a couple of friends started doing a dance imitating the streggae. They shortened the name to reggae, and this is how the reggae beat and dance was born. It became popular worldwide in the 1970′s mostly through the work of the unforgettable artist Bob Marley, who brought this music to an unprecedented level.
Jamaica is an island rich with history dating back to 1655 when England gained control of the island from Spain. With the slave trade, England moved many native Africans to the island. Cultures, languages and religion were blended by the people. The one-drop rhythm, the basis of Reggae, is distinctly African in nature.
As part of the multi culture, some other traditional sounds are waltzes, folk music, ska and calypso. While ska is a blend of rhythm and blues, mixing soft vocals with horn instruments, calypso, or mento, is a mix of African and European music, where acoustical instruments like guitars and banjo are used to play the calypso blend. Calypso actually emerged in the mid 20th century and spread rapidly throughout the whole Caribbean.
As a conclusion of this article, there is no doubt about the fact that Jamaican music will remain very popular in most areas of the world.
Jamaican music takes us to a mystical place, so different from our usual day to day life scenario, and the upbeat rhythms give us a lift and make us happy.
Learn about Bob Marley Legend at www.topreggaeartists.com.. This article, Jamaican Music Insights has free reprint rights.
Tags: hobbies, Music, culture