Genre guide

Reggae.
A small island's gift to the world.

Reggae developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s, evolving out of ska and rocksteady into a slower, deeper groove built on the offbeat and a heavy, meditative bassline. Inseparable from Rastafari and a message of faith, resistance, and unity, it found a global voice in Bob Marley and carried the concerns of a small island to every corner of the earth. Warm, hypnotic, and instantly recognizable, reggae has shaped everything from punk to hip-hop and remains one of the most beloved sounds in music.

Browse featured Reggae artists

From the genre's founders to the names still being discovered.

Reggae articles

Burning Spear Built 'Marcus Garvey' on Nyabinghi Logic, and It Shows

The 1975 title track 'Marcus Garvey' by Burning Spear works because producer Jack Ruby and Winston Rodney built it on Nyabinghi chant logic, turning repetition into a spiritual technology and the Black Disciples' open groove, anchored by Robbie Shakespeare and Aston Barrett, into a ceremonial space.

Buju Banton Wrote 'Untold Stories' After the Album Was Already Done

Buju Banton wrote 'Untold Stories' the morning after a late-night domino session at Penthouse Studios, after the 'Til Shiloh album was already considered complete. The song, born from grief over the 1993 murders of friends Pan Head, Dirtsman, and Mickey Simpson, became the moral and emotional center of a record that redefined what dancehall could hold.

Sixteen Years Later, Capleton Still Has the Fire

Capleton's first album in sixteen years, "Heights of Fire," drops June 26 via Evidence Music — featuring Damian Marley, Stephen Marley, and Eesah, produced by Derrick Sound, Little Lion Sound, Mista Savona, Mixing Finga, and L'Entourloop. It's not a comeback. It's a reckoning.

Shaggy’s “Lottery” Is the Sound of a Man Who Always Knew He’d Win

Shaggy’s 13-track album “Lottery,” out May 15 via VP Records, is a self-produced statement of purpose from one of dancehall’s most enduring global stars — featuring Sting, Robin Thicke, Akon, Beres Hammond, Jeremih, and Rayvon, and three decades of earned confidence.