Music of Jamaica

By the end of the nineteenth century, many Jamaicans migrated throughout Central America in search of employment. As they traveled, they assimilated the sounds of the music they heard, such as tango, samba and Cuban rumba beats - all of which were based around European melodies.

Combined with African roots

This resulted in what we now know as Mento.

At the end of World War II new sounds penetrated Jamaica from the United States. Artists like Fats Domino, Little Richard Duke Ellington and Count Bassie heavily influenced Jamaicans and they adapted the songs they heard into a Caribbean format.

Eventually, Mento evolved into Ska

A hybrid of Mento, doo-wop, r&b and jazz

Millie Small's hit My Boy Lollipop first brought Jamaican music to the attention of an international audience. The track topped the British charts in 1964 and was the first sign that Jamaican music (previously confined to Kingston and the West Indian ghettos of east London) was much more than a passing fad.

In the mid sixties, record producers began selling their music to British labels. New instruments and a slower tempo led to the evolvement of a new sound.

Rocksteady was lighter and more airy than Ska

The Rocksteady era only lasted for a short period (1966-68)

But introduced a whole new wave of singers and musicians. The Wailers, Alton Ellis, Ken Booth, John Holt and the Paragons, Desmond Dekker, Derrick Harriot, The Heptones and the Techniques all made their names during the Rocksteady era.

Rocksteady 's popularity was proven in 1967, when Max Romeo's Wet Dream (a track banned by the BBC because of its sexual conations) went on to sell close to 1 million copies in the UK alone.

Jamaican music evolved from Rocksteady into reggae,

the Maytal's hit, Do The Reggay (released in 1968) was the first published use of the word.

The birth of Reggae marked a significant turning point in Jamaican culture. Whereas the Ska and Rocksteady periods had encompassed a more laid back and soulful attitude, Reggae was militant and rebellious. As ever, the music