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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 ...
is a
music genre A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. Genre is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometim ...
that 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 ...
in the late 1960s. Australia has several bands and
sound systems Sound system may refer to: Technology media * Sound reinforcement system, a system for amplifying audio for an audience * High fidelity, a sound system intended for accurate reproduction of music in the home * Public address system, an institution ...
that play reggae music in a style faithful to its expression in Jamaica. Australia has a relatively small Jamaican community, but reggae penetrated local consciousness via the popularity of reggae among the non-Jamaican population of England in the 1960s and 1970s. Many indigenous musicians have embraced reggae, both for its musical qualities and its ethos of resistance. Examples include Mantaka, No Fixed Address, Zennith and Coloured Stone.


History

The first Reggae sound system in Australia was Soulmaker, established in 1972 by J.J. Roberts, a Jamaican from
Saint Catherine Parish Saint Catherine () is a parish in the south east of Jamaica. It is located in the county of Middlesex, and is one of the island's largest and most economically valued parishes because of its many resources. It includes the first capital of Ja ...
.
Bob Marley & The Wailers Bob Marley and the Wailers (previously known as the Wailers and prior to that the Wailing Rudeboys, the Wailing Wailers and the Teenagers) were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley (Robert ...
toured Australia in 1979, playing
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
,
Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
,
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
,
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
and Sydney. Reggae had success on the radio charts in Australia in the early 1980s when
Toots and the Maytals The Maytals, known from 1972 to 2020 as Toots and the Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group, one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music. ...
, the first artist to use the term "
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 ...
" in song, went to number one with their song "Beautiful Woman". One of the first Australian reggae bands was Untabu. The original members of the band came from Trinidad & Tobago, Bruce Mc Clean - guitar and Errol H Renaud - steel pan, lead singer Ras Roni from Barbados, percussionist Jorge Morales from Puerto Rico and Fijians Rupeni Davui - bass, James Purmodh - drums and Joel Knight - keys. They had releases on Larrikin Records and were resident in a number of clubs in the Darlinghurst and Manly area of Sydney. They also toured the East coast regularly. They performed original music and reggae covers. The Aboriginal band No Fixed Address from Adelaide also had reggae songs in their repertoire. In 1984, Australian label Corroboree Records had its first release with ''Dangerous Times''. This 7" single was recorded at
Channel One Studios Channel One is a recording studio in Maxfield Avenue, West Kingston, Jamaica. The studio was built by the Hoo Kim brothers in 1972, and has had a profound influence on the development of reggae music. History Joseph Hoo Kim's parents ran a bar a ...
with the
Roots Radics The Roots Radics Band is a Jamaican reggae group, formed in 1978 by bass player Errol "Flabba" Holt, guitarist Eric "Bingy Bunny" Lamont and drummer Lincoln "Style" Scott. The nucleus of Holt and Lamont had previously worked together in the ...
, voiced and mixed at King Tubby's with Bugs as engineer, and voiced by Dudley Green and General Justice. It Contains the song "Dangerous Dub" on the B side, which was mixed by
King Tubby Osbourne Ruddock (28 January 1941 – 6 February 1989), better known as King Tubby, was a Jamaican sound engineer who influenced the development of dub music in the 1960s and 1970s. Tubby's studio work, in which as a mixing engineer he achiev ...
. It was released in Jamaica, the UK and Australia. In 1985 Larry Maluma arrived in Australia from Zambia with master tapes recorded in Zambia. He remixed a couple of tracks, Black or White and Chimutima Chako at AAV studios in Melbourne for a 45 single vinyl which was released in 1986 under his own newly formed independent (Safari Music) label. In 1987, two years after his arrival from
Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
Larry Maluma released his first album ''Confusion'' on his own Safari Music label. The video clip "
Black and White Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...
" from the same album was aired on '' Countdown Revolution'' and '' Rock Arena'' on
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
. Larry Maluma went on to release his 14th album, ''Ndakondwa'' (''I'm Happy''), in 2014. The first notable dub release in Australia was ''Ten Dubs That Shook The World'' by Sheriff Lindo and the Hammer, issued on the artist's own label, Endless Recordings, in 1988. The LP was reissued on the Creative Vibes label with five extra tracks in 1998, and again by EM Records of Japan in 2006, on CD (catalogue number EM1049CD) and LP (EM1049LP), limited to 500 copies. The CD version contains five extra tracks. Melbourne-based band The Red Eyes released their first live CD in 2003 ''Live at the Evelyn'', following it with two CD EPs, two full-length albums (''Rudeworld'' in 2006 and ''Red Army'' in 2010) and the 2011 single ''Circles'' before disbanding. Their catalog contains reggae, dub and occasional drum 'n' bass tracks. The band's lead singer El Witeri is Maori, and their work has been remixed by New Zealand dub producer, Deep Fried Dub. In September 2006, Astronomy Class released ''Exit Strategy'' on the record label
Elefant Traks Elefant Traks was a record label based in Sydney, Australia, founded by Kenny Sabir (p.k.a.Traksewt) in 1998. The label predominantly released Australian hip hop music, and founded its own hip-hop collective, The Herd, as well as managing acts ...
. The record fused reggae and
hip hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...
. In February 2007,
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
-based producer Mista Savona released ''Melbourne Meets Kingston'' on Elefant Traks. It is a 21-track collaboration with Jamaican singers and deejays such as
Anthony B Keith Blair (born 31 March 1976), better known by the stage name Anthony B, is a Jamaican DJ and member of the Rastafari movement.Moskowitz, David V (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dance ...
,
Determine Determine (April 7, 1951 – September 27, 1972) was an American Thoroughbred race horse. In a racing career which lasted from 1953 through 1955, the California-trained colt ran forty-four times and won eighteen races. His best season was 1954 w ...
and
Big Youth Manley Augustus Buchanan (born 19 April 1949, Trenchtown, Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica),Thompson, Dave (2002) "Reggae & Caribbean Music", Backbeat Books, better known as Big Youth (sometimes called Jah Youth), is a Jamaican Toasting (J ...
. In September 2008, the Sydney-based band King Tide released their debut album ''To our Dearly Deported'' on the UK label Urban Sedated. The single "No Dog War" was used worldwide by the
Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
corporation for their ''Wag the Dog'' campaign. The commercial shot in Brazil featured members from the cast of the feature film '' City of God''. In December 2009, Australian artist Matty Woods released '' The Ras Gong Guerrilla EP'', a 10-track recording that tackles Australian and international political issues such as Indigenous
sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...
,
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
and human rights. Waves of migration to Australia in the late 20th and early 21st centuries have brought musicians from Africa and Asia to Australia, where they have continued to write, record and perform reggae music, sometimes in combination with other more directly African forms of music. In South Australia, Ras Minano is one example, and the dancehall artist Sokel is another. In Melbourne, Ras Jahknow and the Irie Band (which has Sri Lankan roots) are two more examples. Desert Reggae is a developing contemporary style possibly originating in
Central Australia Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and ...
and featuring lyrics often sung in Australian Aboriginal languages. As of 2015, many indigenous Australian artists from the Northern Territory represented by the Aboriginal owned and operated music label CAAMA Music identify as reggae or ska artists (often in combination with rock). Artists include Tjintu Desert Band (previously known as Sunshine Reggae) and Tjupi Band. Some also identify as Desert Reggae artists, with examples including Lajamanu Teenage Band, Rising Wind, Irrunytju Band and Eastern Arrernte Band. Annual music event Bush Bands Bash in Alice Springs features many Desert Reggae bands.
Reggaeton Reggaeton (, ) is a modern style of popular music, popular and electronic music that originated in Panamanian reggaetón, Panama during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puert ...
, a music genre that blends reggae, hip hop, and traditional
Latin American music The music of Latin America refers to music originating from Latin America, namely the Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese-speaking regions of the Americas south of the United States. Latin American music highly incorpor ...
, is also popular in Australia. The genre first came to prominence when Puerto Rican reggaeton artist
Daddy Yankee Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez (; born February 3, 1976), known professionally as Daddy Yankee (), is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor who rose to worldwide prominence in 2004 with the song "Gasolina". Dubbed the "Honorific ...
released his most notable single, "
Gasolina "Gasolina" () is a song on Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee's 2004 album '' Barrio Fino'' (''Nice 'Hood''). Glory sings the line "dame más gasolina" ("give me more gas"), although she is not credited. The song was released as the album's lead ...
," to Australian radio in 2006. Already a hit worldwide, it reached a peak of No. 12 on the
ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
and was certified
Platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...
, making it one of the few Spanish-language songs to reach that position on the Australian charts.


Festivals

A range of reggae festivals and festivals highlighting reggae music are held around Australia. Queensland hosts more than any other state, with Reggaetown and Kuranda Roots held near Cairns in far north Queensland, and Good Love (formerly One Love) held at the Gold Coast. Good Love Festival is one of New Zealand's largest and most iconic music events, and made its Australian debut in 2020 headlined by Shaggy and
Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican dancehall musician. Paul's first album, ''Stage One'', was released in 2000. He gained international fame with his second album, ''Dutty Rock'', in 2002. Its single "Get Busy ...
. In 2022, the festival changed its name to Good Love. In 2016, the first Jamaican Music & Food Festival was held in Melbourne, Victoria featuring reggae and other music of Jamaican origin. Sponsored by PBS and with live performances by Australian artists, bands and DJs, the festival has also featured many international artists including Jamaican reggae singer
Bushman The San peoples (also Saan), or Bushmen, are the members of any of the indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures of southern Africa, and the oldest surviving cultures of the region. They are thought to have diverged from other humans 100,000 to 200 ...
, British vocalist General Levy and soul singer Richie Stephens. In 2019 the festival also took place in Sydney, NSW and featured
Mad Professor Neil Joseph Stephen Fraser (born 27 March 1955, Georgetown, Guyana) known by his stage-name Mad Professor, is a British dub music producer, engineer and remixer. He has collaborated with reggae artists Lee "Scratch" Perry, Sly and Robbie, ...
as its headline performer. Byron Bay Reggaefest started at The Brewery (; previously known as The Buddha Bar) on 4 December 2010 planned a 2-day festival at Missingham Park, Ballina NSW on 17 & 18 September 2011. South Beach annual Reggae Party
Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...
Western Australia started in 1998.


Former festivals

Raggamuffin Music Festival Raggamuffin Music Festival (Raggamuffin) was an annual music festival that toured Australia and New Zealand which concluded its first tour in 2008. As of 2010, it has featured fourteen Major international reggae Acts and thirteen Australasian ...
was an annual reggae music festival that toured Australia and New Zealand. The festival postponed in 2017 and has not returned since. Dub in the Park was an annual festival of dub, roots and world music first held in
Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
, South Australia in 2016. The festival was discontinued in 2019.


Radio

Notable Australian reggae radio programs of the past include ''Splashdown'' and ''The Pounding System''. Australia's longest running reggae radio show is ''Jamdown Vershun'' which has been broadcasting on 92.1 FM in Perth with selector General Justice since July 1979. The Jamaican singer, producer, and broadcaster Mikey Dread produced and presented a reggae radio special for 2JJJ in the mid to late 1980s. In Melbourne, the PBS 106.7FM program "Babylon Burning" (formerly known as "Chant Down Babylon") has been presented by Jesse I since the late 1990s. Foreigndub ran a weekly radio show in Sydney on 94.5FM – FBI radio every Sunday from 5–7 pm called 'Foreigndub Airways'. They broadcast the show 2010-2019, now moved to 3-5pm Sunday slot on 2SER and stream worldwide. Every Saturday afternoon, 4ZZZ presents ''The Yard'', a Reggae show from 4-6pm with selecta Basmati (Rhythm Collision Sound) Every Wednesday Morning 12 am −2am Fresh 92.7 a community station based in Adelaide has a reggae dancehall show called ''Dancehall & Ting'' which has aired since July 2012 and is hosted by DJ Ragz. In 2013 An online radio station, Australia Reggae Radio (ARR) began broadcasting from Melbourne. ARR plays 24-hour Reggae and Dancehall music, 7 days a week. Run by a former Jamaican music executive and current selector and MC, Zare Demus, ARR features a broad range of reggae and dancehall shows from both Australian and international DJs including, but not limited to, Robert Ragz – ''Dancehall and Ting'' from Adelaide, Australia; Basmati – ''The Yard'' from Brisbane, Australia; Zare Demus – ''The Zare Demus Show'' from Melbourne, Australia; Mumma Trees – ''Jamdown Vershun'' from Perth, Australia; DJ Septik – ''Slow Bounce'' from Brussels, Belgium and Young Lion – ''Young Lion Show'' from the UK.


Chart

In 2017 The first-ever chart dedicated to reggae and dancehall music established in Australia by radio presenter DJ Ragz, music producer DJ Wade and Dancehall Reggae Australia.


Notable artists

*
Blue King Brown Blue King Brown is an Australian urban roots ensemble formed in 2003 in Byron Bay by mainstays Nattali Rize and Carlo Santone. They have released three studio albums, ''Stand Up'' (October 2006), ''Worldwize Part 1 – North & South'' (August ...
* Kattimoni *
Nicky Bomba Nicholas Caruana (born 7 September 1963), also known as Nicky Bomba, is an Australian musician and singer-songwriter. He is the leader of the ARIA Award-winning Melbourne Ska Orchestra, frontman of his band, Bomba, as well as the former drumme ...
* Dizzy Dee *
King Tide A king tide is an especially high spring tide, especially the perigean spring tides which occur three or four times a year. King tide is not a scientific term, nor is it used in a scientific context. The expression originated in Australia, Ne ...
* Mista Savona * Errol H Renaud * Ras Roni * Pat Powell * DJ Astro Black


Australian releases


See also

*
Music of Australia The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...


References


External links


OzReggae.com – Australia's #1 Source For All Reggae RunningsAustralia Reggae RadioDancehall Reggae Australia – Music News and Events from Australia

Australian Top 25 Dancehall Reggae Chart by DJ Ragz
{{Music of Australia Australian styles of music
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...