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Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae
Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Music of Jamaica, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady....
 that concerns itself with the life of the ghetto sufferer, and the rural poor. Lyrical themes include poverty, social issues, resistance to government oppression, repatriation, and Rastafari
Rastafari movement

The Rastafari movement is a monotheism, Abrahamic religions, new religious movement that accepts Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, the former Emperor of Ethiopia, as the incarnation of God, called Jah or Jah Rastafari....
.

The heyday of roots reggae is usually considered the latter half of the 1970s – with singers such as Bob Marley
Bob Marley

Robert "Bob" Nesta Marley Jamaican Order of Merit was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for the ska, rocksteady and reggae bands: The Wailers and Bob Marley & the Wailers ....
, Peter Tosh
Peter Tosh

Peter Tosh, born Winston Hubert McIntosh was a reggae musician who was a core member of The Wailers who then went on to have a successful solo career as well as being a trailblazer for the Rastafari movement....
, Burning Spear
Burning Spear

Winston Rodney, Order of Distinction , also known as Burning Spear, is a Grammy Award winning Jamaican roots reggae reggae singer and musician....
, Max Romeo
Max Romeo

Max Romeo , is a reggae and roots reggae musician who has achieved record chart success in his home country, and in the United Kingdom. The singer who put the rude in rude boy, Max Romeo was responsible for launching an entirely new sub-genre of reggae, whose overtly suggestive lyrics caused an outcry but took a massive hold of the music scen...
, Horace Andy
Horace Andy

Horace Andy , is a roots reggae songwriter and singer, known for his distinctive vocals and hit songs such as "Government Land", "You Are My Angel", "Skylarking" and a cover version of "Ain't No Sunshine"....
 and Lincoln Thompson
Lincoln Thompson

Prince Lincoln Thompson, known as Sax, was a Jamaican singer, musician and songwriter with the reggae band the Royal Rasses, and a member of the Rastafari movement....
, and groups like Black Uhuru
Black Uhuru

Black Uhuru, formed by Derrick "Duckie" Simpson, is a Jamaican reggae band probably best known for their hits "Shine Eye Gal", "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", "Sinsemilla", "Solidarity", and Grammy winner "What Is Life?"....
, Steel Pulse
Steel Pulse

Steel Pulse are a well-known roots reggae musical band. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, in Birmingham, England, composed of David Hinds , Basil Gabbidon , and Ronald McQueen ....
, and Culture
Culture (band)

Culture was a Jamaican roots reggae group founded in 1976. Originally they were known as the African Disciples.The members of the trio were Joseph Hill , Albert Walker and Kenneth Dayes ....
 – teaming up with producers such as Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Bunny Lee
Bunny Lee

Edward O'Sullivan Lee, better known as Bunny "Striker" Lee was a prominent, prolific and successful Jamaican record producer in the 1960s and 1970s....
, Joseph Hoo Kim
Joseph Hoo Kim

Joseph 'Jo Jo' Hoo Kim is a Jamaican reggae record producer.Born into a Chinese Jamaican family, Joseph Hoo Kim was the oldest of four brothers , who during the 1960s were involved in the jukebox and slot machine industry....
 and Coxsone Dodd
Coxsone Dodd

Clement Seymour "Sir Coxsone" Dodd, CD was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond....
.






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Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae
Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Music of Jamaica, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady....
 that concerns itself with the life of the ghetto sufferer, and the rural poor. Lyrical themes include poverty, social issues, resistance to government oppression, repatriation, and Rastafari
Rastafari movement

The Rastafari movement is a monotheism, Abrahamic religions, new religious movement that accepts Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, the former Emperor of Ethiopia, as the incarnation of God, called Jah or Jah Rastafari....
.

The heyday of roots reggae is usually considered the latter half of the 1970s – with singers such as Bob Marley
Bob Marley

Robert "Bob" Nesta Marley Jamaican Order of Merit was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for the ska, rocksteady and reggae bands: The Wailers and Bob Marley & the Wailers ....
, Peter Tosh
Peter Tosh

Peter Tosh, born Winston Hubert McIntosh was a reggae musician who was a core member of The Wailers who then went on to have a successful solo career as well as being a trailblazer for the Rastafari movement....
, Burning Spear
Burning Spear

Winston Rodney, Order of Distinction , also known as Burning Spear, is a Grammy Award winning Jamaican roots reggae reggae singer and musician....
, Max Romeo
Max Romeo

Max Romeo , is a reggae and roots reggae musician who has achieved record chart success in his home country, and in the United Kingdom. The singer who put the rude in rude boy, Max Romeo was responsible for launching an entirely new sub-genre of reggae, whose overtly suggestive lyrics caused an outcry but took a massive hold of the music scen...
, Horace Andy
Horace Andy

Horace Andy , is a roots reggae songwriter and singer, known for his distinctive vocals and hit songs such as "Government Land", "You Are My Angel", "Skylarking" and a cover version of "Ain't No Sunshine"....
 and Lincoln Thompson
Lincoln Thompson

Prince Lincoln Thompson, known as Sax, was a Jamaican singer, musician and songwriter with the reggae band the Royal Rasses, and a member of the Rastafari movement....
, and groups like Black Uhuru
Black Uhuru

Black Uhuru, formed by Derrick "Duckie" Simpson, is a Jamaican reggae band probably best known for their hits "Shine Eye Gal", "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", "Sinsemilla", "Solidarity", and Grammy winner "What Is Life?"....
, Steel Pulse
Steel Pulse

Steel Pulse are a well-known roots reggae musical band. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, in Birmingham, England, composed of David Hinds , Basil Gabbidon , and Ronald McQueen ....
, and Culture
Culture (band)

Culture was a Jamaican roots reggae group founded in 1976. Originally they were known as the African Disciples.The members of the trio were Joseph Hill , Albert Walker and Kenneth Dayes ....
 – teaming up with producers such as Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Bunny Lee
Bunny Lee

Edward O'Sullivan Lee, better known as Bunny "Striker" Lee was a prominent, prolific and successful Jamaican record producer in the 1960s and 1970s....
, Joseph Hoo Kim
Joseph Hoo Kim

Joseph 'Jo Jo' Hoo Kim is a Jamaican reggae record producer.Born into a Chinese Jamaican family, Joseph Hoo Kim was the oldest of four brothers , who during the 1960s were involved in the jukebox and slot machine industry....
 and Coxsone Dodd
Coxsone Dodd

Clement Seymour "Sir Coxsone" Dodd, CD was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond....
. The experimental pioneering of such producers within often-restricted technological parameters gave birth to dub
Dub music

Dub is a form of music, evolved from reggae that involves revisions of existing songs. The dub sound consists predominantly of instrumental remixes of existing recordings and is achieved by significantly manipulating and reshaping the recordings, usually by removing the vocals from an existing music piece, emphasizing the drum and bass frequ...
, and is seen by some music historians as one of the earliest (albeit analogue) contributions to modern dance music
Dance music

Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dance. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement....
 production techniques.

Roots reggae, having its origins in the Jamaican landscape, also became very popular in Europe in the 1970s, specially among left-wing white youths in Western Europe. When Jamaicans turned to dancehall
Dancehall

Dancehall is a type of Jamaican popular music which developed in the late 1970s, initially as a more sparse and less political and religious variant of reggae than the Roots reggae style that had dominated much of the 1970s....
, a lot of black, white and mixed roots reggae bands were formed in Europe. Later on roots reggae also made its way into the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 with the mass migration of Jamaicans to New York. This took place with the reforms made to American immigration laws in the early 1960's. Along with localized traditions and food, reggae music was inevitably brought as well, contributing to the New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 soundscape.

See also

  • List of roots reggae artists
    List of roots reggae artists

    This is a list of notable roots reggae musicians, singers and producers.10 ft ganja plant...


External links