Jamaican Reggae Ska, Rocksteady
Associated with Rastafarian (Haile Selassie, King of Ethiopia) Smoking of ganja, equivalent in Jamaica of Christian communion Peace, island life; then some misogynistic* themes, and later Rude Boy, as political comment against poverty in the Caribbean *Yellowman and others—I find them no more anti-female than blues lyrics
Musical Characteristics Offbeat accents (on the “upbeats”) Melodic bass line Relatively slower tempo Basic rock and roll instrumentation, but also uses organ (often Hammond B3) and congas/timbales/bongos in percussion
Jackie Mittoo PqNYY&feature=relatedhttp:// PqNYY&feature=related
The ‘skank’ Guitar or organ chords ( pairs of notes off the beat ) fHYpE&kw=jamaica&ad= &fea ture=pyvhttp:// fHYpE&kw=jamaica&ad= &fea ture=pyv Lucky Dube (South Africa): KpN5Y KpN5Y
The three basic drum beats One drop: Bob Marley and the Wailers xLmzIhttp:// xLmzI Rocker beat (adds beat one) Bunny Wailer TiYj5M TiYj5M Stepper flat four– Bob Marley P0vDfE (developed with/from ska) P0vDfE
Ska—Marley says it is the original style, and reggae is a slow version of ska m3pyqg (Skatalites with Jackie Mittoo) m3pyqg A questionable history of ska: OKsYhttp:// OKsY In Bob Marley’s own words: d5EAQ&feature=related d5EAQ&feature=related
Rocksteady Slower dzzEhttp:// dzzE Some artists say rocksteady preceded reggae, some say reggae, when slowed down, is rocksteady. Chicken and the egg