When reggae emerged within the late 1960s, it came as a cultural bombshell not only to Jamaica however the whole world. Reggae has influenced societies through the world, contributing to the development of new counterculture movements, especially in European countries, in the us and Africa. Certainly, by the end of the 1960s, it participated in the birth of the skinhead movement in the united kingdom. In the 70s, it impacted on Western punk rock/ put cultures and influenced the first rappers in the USA. Finally, because the late 1970s onwards, it has also influenced performers originating from Africa, Alpha Blondy, Tiken Jah Fakoly and Lucky Dube being perfect examples. Thus, my paper will analyze the impact of Jamaican reggae songs on the worldwide social universe, particularly on European countries, the USA and Africa.
Reggae will be the music genre which transformed Jamaican songs. If it surfaced within the late 1960s, it arrived as a social bombshell not only to Jamaica however the whole world. Its slow jerky rhythm, its militant and religious lyrics as well as the rebellious appearance of their performers, amongst others, have influenced music styles, civilizations and societies through the entire world, leading to the development of new counterculture movements, especially in Europe, in the us and Africa. Indeed, by the end from the 1960s, it participated in the delivery in the skinhead motion in the UK. In the 70s, it impacted on IBRU, influencing musicians like Eric Clapton and also the Clash. Through the same decade, it inspired the first rappers in the USA, providing rise to hip-hop culture. Finally, considering that the finish from the 70s, it has also inspired performers originating from Africa, the Ivorian singers Alpha Blondy and Tiken Jah Fakoly, as well as the South African Fortunate Dube clearly illustrating this point. Thus, my paper will examine the effect of reggae songs in the worldwide social world, concentrating particularly on Europe, the united states and Africa.
“Between 1953 and 1962 approximately 175, 000 Jamaicans from city and nation boarded the banana watercraft destined for Central london, Liverpool as well as other English ports” (Chevannes 1994: 263). And regardless of the 1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Take action, the immigration of Jamaicans towards the United kingdom, especially Britain, remained rather substantial throughout the 1960s. Therefore, inside the late 1960s-early 1970s, England experienced a big Jamaican community. Most of Jamaican migrants lived in working-class districts including Tottenham (North London) and Brixton (Southern Central london), the second having possibly the largest concentration of Jamaican immigrants throughout the uk. It was basically in this context that this Jamaican popular music of the time, ska, rocksteady and earlier reggae, acquired fans within the Jamaican expatriate communities with the sound system subculture1. In the meantime, a youngsters counterculture motion was surfacing inside the exact same London operating-class districts: the skinheads.
2 The word “dancehall” refers back to the space by which well-known Jamaican recordings were aired by local s (…)
3Actually, the skinhead movement evolved through the modernist motion, a counterculture youth motion which began inside london inside the late 1950s but in whose peak matches the mid-1960s. Modernists (often simply known as “mods”) had been generally from working-course backgrounds. They utilized to cut their hair close, each to assist their fashion preventing their hair from impeding them in road fights. They employed to meet each and every Saturday to go football matches and assistance their local groups, which frequently ended in massive fights between opposing supporters. These people were tough kids for sure but paradoxically they “affected dandyism” (Moore 1993: 24). At night, for instance, mods employed to dress in their finest clothes and go to Black evening organizations to dance to Afro-United states music like rhythm and blues and spirit songs that they can had been totally fond of. Additionally they often visited dancehall2 to be able to dance to new seems introduced by Jamaican immigrants including ska, rocksteady and early reggae. At these gatherings, mods and Jamaican impolite boys danced, laughed and drank together, sharing their flavor for these musical genres. It really is really worth underlining the rude boy movement erupted during the early 1960s being a distinct force among the out of work young males of Kingston. Jamaican musicologist Garth White-colored claimed that these younger males “became more and more disenchanted and alienated from the system which did actually gkanik no relief from suffering. Many of the young grew to become impolite. ‘Rude boy’ (bwoy) placed on anybody from the system” (White-colored 1967: 40-41). Thus, mods and rude boys combined together giving rise for the skinhead movement. In an interview which i carried out with Roddy Moreno, leader from the Oppressed as well as an emblematic shape in the skinhead motion, the latter said:
Roddy Moreno, interview carried out on my own on 29 Sept 2008.
“As a lot of Britain kept itself distant through the immigrants the skinheads accepted Jamaican style and music. We would go to through the night Blues events with each other and several younger Blacks were skinheads them selves. Recall the [Jamaican] migrants had been fairly bad and so the operating course kids experienced more in common with them compared to the center and upper courses of Britain. We resided on the same streets, went along to the same schools and we partied together. While most of Britain saw the migrants as ‘those black people,’ we skinheads saw them as ‘our black buddies.’ Obviously there was skinheads with racist attitudes, but many skinheads experienced black mates and many skinhead gangs had black kids amongst their stands. […] Skinhead would not really exist without having Jamaica”