Reggae is harmony, positivity and the spirit of the world embodied in music. This is the concept of reggae style presented by Bob Marley - the very first representative of a third world country to become a real star.
Where and when did the reggae style begin
Reggae music appeared on the island of Jamaica in 1968. And it happened in a completely random way, when a group of local musicians decided to play their favorite songs from the rhythm and blues genre in their own way. Since self-taught performers listened to these compositions only on the radio and did not have notes, the songs received a special color and were quite far from the originals.
Some details were overlooked, some were forgotten and replaced by others characteristic of Jamaican pop music. Every black Jamaican musician wanted to add something of his own to the remakes. As a result, a completely new genre has emerged, combining local ethnic motives, pop music and rhythm and blues in sound.
The mentality of the original island of Jamaica is characterized by slowness, relaxation and carelessness, which could not but be reflected in the music. It differs from other genres of reggae in slowness and a kind of harmony. Gradually, the music changed under the influence of energetic and cheerful Jamaican residents, speed and some expressiveness appeared in it.
All over the world, reggae gained its greatest popularity in the 70s, while this genre reached Russia only in the 80s. Some of the very first who began to experiment and perform reggae were the groups "Ja Division", "Aquarium" and "Kovcheg". Now there are a lot of popular reggae performers, these include: Burning Spear, Dada dubi, Jaskaz, SunSay, The Abyssinians, The Jamaicans, The Melodians, disintegrated 5′nizza and others. In Jamaica, Montego Bay hosts the Reggae Sumfest every year, bringing together the best reggae bands.
Reggae and Rastafism
All reggae musicians are distinguished by belonging to the pseudo-religion of Rastafanism, the main idea of which is equality and friendship throughout the world. This could not but affect the music itself and the lyrics. Previously, compositions of this genre often sang about spiritual improvement, harmony, friendship, peace, mysticism, directly about the god of Rastafanism, Jah, etc.
Bob Marley, Leni Kravitz and Lee Perry are considered the founders of this genre. The direct founder of reggae is Lee Perry, who said the following about this music: "This is the music of the revolution, the music of war." Bob Marley brought this genre to a new level, if earlier the lyrics of reggae songs were exclusively religious and mystical themes, then with his words they became deeper. In reggae, songs appeared about the life of modern people, problems in society and politics.
