"The death of Bob Marley in 1981 is often conceived as a line of demarcation, signalling the end of roots reggae and the dawning of dancehall. But Jamaican music has never been as simple as that. Dig a little deeper and you will find that the shift happened significantly earlier, with the deejays of western Kingston being the major catalysts of change. For much of the last fifty years, Jamaican popular music has been typified by transformation. Most readers will be familiar with the ska/rock steady/reggae axis that was at the music’s core before dancehall’s advent. In fact, the island’s earliest recordings featured mento — an indigenous folk form — and during the late 1950s, a Jamaican form of rhythm and blues gained favour, which gave way to ska as the independence movement gathered steam. Then, after the pared-down rock steady dominated, in late 1968, reggae came storming in as a fast-paced dance style with a shuffling organ. ..."
Red Bull Music Academy Daily (Video)
