Subgenres

There are a lot of different types of music that have evolved from reggae. These are:

Roots Reggae: This is a form of reggae that's lyrics are mostly about Jah (god). They are also about poverty and repression. Much of Bob Marley's music is roots reggae.

Dub: This is a form of reggae that involves extensive remixing of recorded songs. This was invented by Lee "Scratch" Perry. A lot of emphasis is placed on the drum and bass line.

Rockers: This was created in the mid 70's by Sly&Robbie. This is a flowing' aggressive style of reggae.

Lovers Rock: This is an english form of reggae. The lyrics are normally about love.

Dancehall: This is a style of reggae with raw and fast music with toasting or rapping over the music.

Reggaeton: This is a fusion of Latin and jamaican music, it is popular with Latino youths.

Instruments

Reggae is based on a relatively small number of instruments from the western world and also africa. Most of the instruments used in reggae are percussion instruments such as drums. The standard drum kit is used in reggae with the snare drum tuned so it has a high sound. Other drums such as bongos are used as well. The bass and standard guitars are used a lot in reggae music. The combination of drum and bass is called the riddim. The guitars in reggae music is mostly used as a rhythym instrument.Horns and keyboards are also frequently used with the reggae organ being used in most songs.

Bob Marley

This is Buffalo Soldier by Bob Marley, one of the most famous reggae songs in history.

Development

In the 70's and 80's, the popularity of reggae grew beyond recognition in the united states and Britain. The biggest genuine reggae stars of the 1970's and 80's were Bob Marley and the Wailers, Black Uhuru and Sugar Minnot. These bands enjoyed worldwide success.

At this time punk was staring to become popular in Britain. Some punk bands such as the Clash and The Slits would incorporate reggae into their music.Some punk DJ's would play punk songs regularly in their sets. At this time Eric Clapton had a huge hit in America with his version of Bobo Marley's "No Woman No Cry". All this added to the development of reggae music in the mainstream.

Beginnings

Reggae started in the late 1960s in kingston, the capital of Jamaica. It came from a mix of african drum rhythym and american blues beats. It also draws part of its image from the ska scene in jamaica in the 1950s and 1960s.

The first people to use this new, slower form of ska in popular music were Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Clancy Eccles. Soon enough, reggae made its way into international music, with The beatles using it for their hit "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da", and american singer Johnny Nash bringing this new style to the mainstream.