The spaces created in the music by the absence of some instruments, presented a platform on which deejays could interject their jive-talk. It involved the stripping down of the majority of the music’s melody, leaving behind the rhythm section, which were primarily the drum and the bass. It cannot be taken lightly either because even more than reggae, dub was the main driving force behind the creation of modern-day dancehall music.

Having a connection with both rocksteady and reggae, dub modified both genres. Sign up for The Gleaner’s morning and evening newsletters.īut somewhere in the musical mix of the ’70s emerged a Jamaican music subgenre called dub. These gave the earliest glimpse of what would later become known as dancehall music. Adopting a style that struck a medium between deejaying and singing, Minott wrote lyrics to fit over existing Studio 1 rhythms to create songs like Oh Mr DC, Is It True, This Ole Man, and Vanity in the mid-1970s.

Modern-day dancehall music owes a lot to the works of Lincoln ‘Sugar’ Minott, who pioneered an approach that would be central to the emerging dancehall style. Rocksteady begat reggae and was followed by modern-day dancehall, which has been with us since 1983. First, there was the foundation, ska – although there were remnants of Jamaican R&B before – which evolved into rocksteady. To begin with, there is hardly anyone who would be brave enough to contest the claim that modern-day dancehall is the culmination of the many changes that Jamaican popular music have been through over the years. So as we enter Reggae Month 2019, it is perhaps a good time to put things into perspective and unravel some of the misconceptions that surround the two genres − reggae and dancehall. Modern-day dancehall bore some resemblance here, having also begun in the dancehalls that have always been the lifeblood of Jamaican music.

Here, heavyweight sound systems like Sir Coxsone’s Downbeat, Duke Reid The Trojan, and King Edward The Giant would blare the Rhythm & Blues music from New Orleans and the ska from Jamaica into the wee hours of the morning. There were places like Forrester’s Hall, The Success Club, Chocomo Lawn, King’s Lawn, Bournemouth, and Jubilee Tile Gardens, all located in Kingston. The confusion is further compounded when we recall that there was a music called dancehall music during the late 1950s, which took its name from a physical space where such music was played. Many experts believe that dancehall sprang directly from reggae while another school of thought holds firm to the view that dancehall is a separate entity, having its origin elsewhere. But recently, dancehall music has become, almost equally, a part of the month’s activities. Reggae music has always been at the centre of Reggae Month celebrations since its inception in February 2008.

Jamaica dancehall reggae music