Reggae Dub Culture

by Patrick
(Miami, Florida)

I love reggae, you love reggae but a lot of people don't even know where it originated from. Reggae first started from Jamaica in 1960s.
It gained much fame in early 1970s. As a rule, reggae is a kind of music which is rhythmic and its style is faster than rock. It's steady but slower than ska. I love the sounds of bass, guitar, drums, Melodica and organ.

Reggae was being played in Kingston, Jamaica for a few years but, it officially came into existence in 1968 by 'The Martyls' with the hit, 'do the reggae'. It is broadly referred to all kind of Jamaican music that has an afterbeat rhythm to it.

Bob Marley is the king of reggae and if you want to listen to the best reggae music ever, then just go out and buy a few Bob Marley CDs. He is the one who transformed reggae into a world class phenomenon and internationally recognized style of music.

Some other famous bands in reggae are 'the Congos', Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff and Prince Buster, who made it big and had a tremendous fan following.

Personally I love reggae and Jamaican music as it always succeeds in getting me on my feet. I end up feeling cheerful and the change in mood is instantaneous. It's neat to know that reggae has incorporated itself into many cultures and countries across the world. For example, Thailand, Australia, Japan, America, Africa and Europe have all developed their own versions of reggae music.

One can only enjoy the true essence of reggae music if one is a bit familiar with the history and culture of Jamaicans and especially the language. The words and slang used in reggae music cannot be easily comprehended by a lay man. I am familiar with their past history and culture due to two reasons. First of all, I genuinely like reggae so I was intrigued to learn about it, so I did. I looked up the internet, read books and gathered information. Secondly, I had the good luck of living with a Jamaican room mate for a year. You can imagine how much I learned from him, probably much more than I could ever have from books!

My friends consider an expert in reggae music and I own a collection that I am seriously proud of. Thanks for the dub-culture info!