Roots Reggae
Spiritual, social, and political reggae — the one-drop rhythm as global voice.
Roots reggae centres Rastafarian spirituality, African identity, and social commentary. Producers like Coxsone Dodd, Lee Perry, and Channel One bands craft the heavy one-drop sound that travels worldwide. UNESCO inscribed reggae on its Representative List in 2018.
- One-drop rhythm
- Rastafarian philosophy
- UNESCO Heritage (2018)
Key artists
12Producers
8Labels
8Riddims
12Listen — albums & songs
12Island Chronicle
8- Ernie Smith's 1972 hit "Pitta Patta"produced by Richard Khouri at Federal which based Lee "Scratch" Perry's based his "M
- In 1972, Ernie Smith won the World Popular Song Festival also called the Yamaha Music Festival in Japan with "Life Is Ju
- Jimmy Cliff stars in 'The Harder They Come' (1972). one of the first truly successful films to come out of Jamaica.
- 1972 ad for Dennis Brown's "Silhouettes" record, available at Derrick's 1Stop Record Village owned by Derrick Harriott
- Prince Jazzbo's first hit in 1972 with Coxsone was a version of Horace Andy's "Skylarking", which he re-worked as "Crabw
- November 1972 saw the release of Junior Byles' debut album, Beat Down Babylon, which along with a series of singles that
- Junior Byles 1972 debut album, Beat Down Babylon, was a dread masterpiece and instant classic. The album remains one the
- Fabulous Five Inc. was the first Jamaican reggae band to play on an international hit LP. They backed up six cuts on Ame
This Day in Jamaican Music
6News & culture
6- ‘Night Nurse’: Gregory Isaacs Signs to Island Records, Records With the Roots Radics at Tuff Gong and Reaches the UK Top 40
- Robert Nesta Marley, O.M., 1945–1981: Jamaica Buries Its Cultural Ambassador at Nine Mile After a State Funeral in the National Arena
- Money in My Pocket: Dennis Brown’s Joe Gibbs Recut Conquers the UK Charts, 1979
- Sitting and Watching: Dennis Brown and Sly & Robbie’s Taxi Label in the 1980s
- One Love Peace Concert: Bob Marley Comes Home and Joins the Hands of Michael Manley and Edward Seaga at the National Stadium
- Visions of Dennis Brown: Joe Gibbs, Errol Thompson and the Conscious Roots Peak, 1978
More links as the archive grows.
We add artists, riddims and stories to era pages as verified catalogue data arrives.
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