Globalization of Reggae

Globalization of Reggae
Bob Marley first made reggae into an international phenomenon. In the wake of his success in the 1970s came a host of other names, and it wasn’t long until reggae became an established genre of music. Reggae was simply the growth, the development, of what had been happening in Jamaican music. Beginning with ska, and then rock steady, the loudest island in the world had declared its real musical independence, and had already made an imprint on the world, albeit a small one.   In his article, “Reggae Music Isn’t Jewish but a lot of the Ideas Are,” Dorian Lynskey writes about Matisyahu, a Hasidic Jew who sings reggae music, and how he has become popular around the world. Barry Davis writes in his article, The United Voice of Reggae, that reggae music is enjoyed by all people in Israel - including high-ranking army officers and intellectuals. Carl Moxie explains in his article, Let Reggae Music Be, why reggae is able to penetrate the American music industry and how the American take on reggae is conversely effecting the Jamaican culture.
Reggae’s roots can be traced to West Africa. In the seventeenth century, large numbers of West Africans were enslaved by British colonists and brought by ship to work in sugar can fields of the West Indies. Although the British attempted to prevent slaves from playing traditional African music, in fear it would serve as a rallying cry to revolt, the slaves managed to keep alive the tradition of African drumming, sometimes by integrating it with the European musical styles imposed by the slave owners. In Jamaica, the drumming of one group of slaves, the Burru, was openly tolerated by slave holders because it helped meter the pace of work. When slavery was finally abolished in Jamaica in 1834, the tradition of Burru drumming continued. Many Burru men migrated to the slums of Kinston, Jamaica, where a new religious cult was beginning to emerge. This religious group called themselves Rastafarians and soon...