Raggamuffin music (or simply ragga) is a subgenre of

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

music. The instrumentals primarily consist of

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

with heavy use of sampling. Wayne Smith's " Under Mi Sleng Teng", produced by

King Jammy Lloyd Woodrowe James (born 26 October 1947),Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter: "Reggae: The Rough Guide", 1997, Rough Guides, better known as Prince Jammy or King Jammy, is a Jamaican dub mixer, sound system owner and record producer. He began hi ...

in 1985 on a

Casio MT-40 The Casio Casiotone MT-40 is an electronic keyboard, formerly produced by Casio and originally developed for the consumer market. It was released in 1981, with the MT-41 gray version joining it in 1983. Description The keyboard has 37 main keys ...

synthesizer, is a seminal ragga song. "Sleng Teng" boosted Jammy's popularity immensely, and other producers quickly released their own versions of the

riddim In Jamaican dancehall music, a riddim is the instrumental accompaniment to a song and is synonymous with the rhythm section. Jamaican music genres that use the term consist of the ''riddim'' plus the ''voicing'' (vocal part) sung by the deeja ...

, accompanied by dozens of different vocalists.

Origins

Ragga originated in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

during the 1980s, at the same time that

electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...

's popularity was increasing globally. Ragga spread to Europe, North America, and Africa, eventually spreading to Japan, India, and the rest of the world. Ragga heavily influenced early jungle music, and also spawned the

syncretistic Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thus ...

bhangragga Bhangra () is a type of non-traditional music of Punjab originating from the Punjab region. Over the years, bhangra has evolved and gained popularity not only in South Asia but also around the world. It has become a significant part of the c ...

style when fused with

bhangra Bhangra may refer to: * Bhangra (music), a genre of Punjabi music * Bhangra (dance), a folk dance of Punjab region * ''Bhangra'' (film), a 1959 Indian Punjabi-language film See also * Bhangara, Nepal Bhangara, Nepal is a village development c ...

. In the 1990s, ragga and

breakcore Breakcore is a style of electronic dance music that emerged from jungle, hardcore, and drum and bass in the mid-to-late 1990s. It is characterized by very complex and intricate breakbeats and a wide palette of sampling sources played at high ...

music fused, creating a style known as

raggacore Breakcore is a style of electronic dance music that emerged from jungle, hardcore, and drum and bass in the mid-to-late 1990s. It is characterized by very complex and intricate breakbeats and a wide palette of sampling sources played at high ...

. The term "raggamuffin" is an intentional misspelling of "

ragamuffin Ragamuffin or Raggamuffin is a euphemism for a child of the street. The term may also refer to: Film * '' The Ragamuffin'', a 1916 American silent film by William C. deMille * ''Ragamuffin'', a 2014 film directed by David Schultz about Rich Mul ...

", a word that entered the

Jamaican Patois Jamaican Patois (; locally rendered Patwah and called Jamaican Creole by linguists) is an English-based creole language with influences from West African, Arawak, Spanish and other languages, spoken primarily in Jamaica and among the Jamaican ...

lexicon after the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

colonized 475px, Map of the year each country achieved List of sovereign states by date of formation, independence. Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples f ...

Jamaica in the 17th century. Despite the British colonialists' pejorative application of the term, Jamaican youth appropriated it as an

ingroup In social psychology and sociology, an in-group is a social group to which a person psychologically identifies as being a member. By contrast, an out-group is a social group with which an individual does not identify. People may for example ...

designation. The term "raggamuffin music" describes the

music of Jamaica The music of Jamaica includes Jamaican folk music and many popular genres, such as mento, ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub music, dancehall, reggae fusion and related styles. Reggae is especially popular through the fame of Bob Marley. Jamaican mus ...

's "ghetto dwellers".

Ragga and hip hop music

produced 1985 hit, " (Under Me) Sleng Teng" by Wayne Smith. In the late 1980s, Jamaican deejay

Daddy Freddy S. Frederick Small (born 1965), better known as Daddy Freddy, is a Jamaican ragga vocalist. Early life Small was born in 1965, in Kingston, Jamaica, and grew up in the city's Trenchtown district.Huey, SteveDaddy Freddy Biography", Allmusic, ...

and Asher D's " Ragamuffin Hip-Hop" became the first multinational

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

to feature the word "ragga" in its title.Wynn, Ron
''Ragamuffin Hip-Hop'' Review
.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. Retrieved 16 November 2020.

References

The world of DJs and the turntable culture By Todd Souvignier
* Stascha (Staša) Bader: ''Worte wie Feuer: Dancehall Reggae und Raggamuffin''. ''Words Like Fire. Dancehall Reggae and Raggamuffin''. Dissertation Thesis at the Zurich University, 1986. Buchverlag Michael Schwinn, Neustadt, Deutschland, 1. Aufl. 1988, 2. Aufl. 1992 * René Wynands: ''Do The Reggae. Reggae von Pocomania bis Ragga und der Mythos Bob Marley.'' Pieper Verlag und Schott. 1995 (Pieper), (Schott
Online-Version
* Norman C. Stolzoff: ''Wake the Town and Tell the People. Dancehall Culture in Jamaica.'' Durham; London: Duke University Press, 2000. {{Authority control Dancehall Jamaican styles of music Reggae genres