Caribbean
CLICK ON THE SQUARE PICTURE ICONS TO GO THROUGH TO A YOUTUBE PLAYLIST IN THAT STYLE
REGGAE DANCEHALL club. 2000s - 2010s.
Dancehall tracks for clubs.
DANCEHALL
(2000/10s RnB style).
New almost RnB sounding production style on the old Jamaican Dancehall sound (below), picked up now by artists around the world for radio and club hits. This is the style most ppl in the UK will know.
DUB. 1970s - present.
Originally a subgenre of reggae, taking out the vocals for resampling, adding reverb & echo, spread across Europe and USA, mixing with many other experimental and electro styles over the decades.
RAGGA. 1980s - 2010s.
Dancehall Reggae style often with the MC just talking over the bass, similar to Hip-Hop, only the Jamaican version!
REGGAE DANCEHALL (xtra playlist). 1980s - 90s.
Just an easy listening, feel good, kinda, dancehall playlist in the classic style.
REGGAE DANCEHALL (OldSkool). 1980s - 90s.
Really took off in the 80s as club and dance experiments going beyond the Reggae sound of the 70s. Much more use of Jamaican dialect (patois) over "Riddim" beats. Many songs can share the same Riddims.
REGGAE. Late 1960s - 2010s.
Probably the most distinctive genre coming out of Jamaica. While Roots Reggae (below) explores the actual history - the African & especially Ethiopian roots - of the people of Jamaica, much else is songs about love, life and everything else, sharing the same tempo & singing style.
ROOTS REGGAE. Late 1960s - 2010s.
Similar to conscious Hip-Hop, which explores awareness of history and the relations between people through HipHop, Roots Reggae explores the African & especially Ethiopian roots of the people of Jamaica (much of which is airbrushed out of British history too).
ROCKSTEADY. 1960s - 1970s.
1960s Jamaican bands similar to jazz groups picking up and running with the Ska "offbeat" to put down these feel good numbers. Many classic groups.
CLASSIC SKA. 1950s - 80s.
Coming from Mento & Calypso, the original Jamaican "Offbeat" tempo genre which has led to Rocksteady, Reggae, Dub, & the rest. Picked up in the UK in the 80s, in "2-tone" ft. mixed white & black groups (eg The Specials).
CALYPSO. Early 1800s - present.
Cheerful Afro-Caribbean song and dance style from Trinidad and Tobago. Ska and Rocksteady borrowed from its characteristic Rhythm.