Rastafari: The Spirit of Reggae
It could be said that reggae is the prayer-chant of a downtrodden soul. The music traces its beginnings to the community of Trenchtown, a ghetto in Kingstown, Jamaica. Reggae is a soulful blending of the traditional folk music of Jamaica as well as the American-influenced jazz and R&B. Many musicians claim to have coined the word “reggae,” but whether their claims have basis is no longer important. What matters today is that reggae has become a lasting legacy of the “poor” people of Trenchtown, whose influence has spread throughout the globe.
We cannot discuss reggae without also touching on the topic of spirituality; in this case, it is the spirituality as defined by the Rastafari religion. The music and the religion are deeply entwined. During the 1970s, audience generally assumed that reggae musicians are also adherents of the Rastafari faith. Bob Marley can be credited with this assumption, considering that he did so much in raising awareness about the religion (Rastafari) through his music (reggae). Thus, to the world, reggae became synonymous with the religion, and vice versa. Many contemporaries of Bob Marley who wished to gain popularity in the same musical genre imitated Marley’s image. They grew dreads and declared that they themselves are adherents of the Rastafari faith in order to gain audience acceptance. This further reinforced the belief of the religion/music unity.
Even though Bob Marley was the most popular reggae musician with Rastafarian leanings, the first reggae single that expressed the religion’s doctrine was not performed by Marley. Credit goes to Little Roy’s “Bongo Man,” which reached the top position in Jamaican charts in 1969. Linval Thompson, Ijahman Levi, Bunny Wailer, and Peter Tosh are some of the other reggae performers aside from Marley who expressed Rastafari doctrines in their music.
Owing to the continual evolution of reggae music, it is now classified into different subgenres. Roots reggae is the most well-known subgenre. Musicians and artists who popularized this include Bob Marley himself, Big Youth, Horace Andy, as well as the bands Israel Vibration and Misty Roots. Lyrics of roots reggae usually express praise and faith in Jah (as God is called in Rastafari doctrine); racial oppression and emancipation; and poverty.
Rockers reggae is a more aggressive form of reggae and was popularized by Sly & Robbie during the mid-1970s. Other adjectives used to describe this subgenre include “mechanical,” “flowing,” and “fierce.” The mid-1970s was dubbed as the reggae’s Golden Age.
