Rude boy is a

subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture, cultural society that differentiates itself from the values of the conservative, standard or dominant culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures ...

that originated from 1960s Jamaican street culture. In the late 1970s, there was a revival in England of the terms ''rude boy'' and ''rude girl'', among other variations like ''rudeboy'' and ''rudebwoy'', being used to describe fans of two-tone and ska. This revival of the subculture and term was partially the result of Jamaican immigration to the UK and the so-called "Windrush" generation. The use of these terms moved into the more contemporary

ska punk Ska punk (also spelled ska-punk) is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music. Ska punk tends to feature brass instruments, especially Horn (instrument), horns such as trumpets, trombones and woodwind instruments like saxophones ...

movement as well. In the UK and especially Jamaica, the terms ''rude boy'' and ''rude girl'' are used in a way similar to gangsta,

yardie Yardie (or Yaadi/Yawdie) is a term often used, particularly within the Caribbean expatriate and Jamaican diaspora, to refer to people of Jamaican origin; however, its exact meaning changes depending on context. The term is derived from the Jama ...

, or badman.

Jamaica

The term ''rude boy'', and the rude boy subculture, arose from the poorer sections of

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

, and was associated with violent discontented youths. Along with ska and

rocksteady Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish ...

music, many rude boys favored sharp suits, thin ties, and

pork pie A pork pie is a traditional English meat pie, usually served either at room temperature or cold (although often served hot in Yorkshire). It consists of a filling of roughly chopped pork and pork fat, surrounded by a layer of jellied pork stock ...

Trilby A trilby is a narrow-brimmed type of hat. The trilby was once viewed as the rich man's favored hat; it is sometimes called the "brown trilby" in UK, BritainBernhard Roetzel, Roetzel, Bernhard (1999). ''Gentleman's Guide to Grooming and Style''. B ...

hats, showing an influence of the fashions of US

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musicians and

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...

artists. It is also believed that the rude boy style was influenced by Sean Connery's sharp, tight suits worn when he portrayed James Bond, testified to by several ska songs that made reference to James Bond. Well-known cowboy and gangster/outlaw films from that period were also influential factors in shaping the rude boy image, as scholars like Rob Wilson, Christopher Leigh Connory, and Deborah A. Thomas have shown. In that time period, unemployed Jamaican youths sometimes found temporary employment from

sound system 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 ...

operators to disrupt competitors' dances (leading to the term ''dancehall crasher''). The violence that sometimes occurred at dances and its association with the rude boy lifestyle gave rise to a slew of releases by artists who addressed the rude boys directly with lyrics that either promoted or rejected rude boy violence, for example the 1967 song " Rudy a Message to You" by

Dandy Livingstone Dandy Livingstone (born Robert Livingstone Thompson, 14 December 1943) is a British Jamaican, British-Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae musician and record producer, best known for his 1972 hit record, hit "Suzanne Beware of the Devil", and fo ...

. Starting in the 1970s, Jamaican

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 replaced the ska and rocksteady music associated with the rude boys. In the 1980s,

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 ...

became the main Jamaican popular music genre, drawing some parallels with the earlier rude boys in its culture and lyrical content.

United Kingdom

In the 1960s, the

Jamaican diaspora The Jamaican diaspora refers to the body of Jamaicans who have left the country of Jamaica, their descendants, and to a lesser extent the subsequent developments of their culture. Jamaicans can be found in the far corners of the world, but the ...

introduced rude boy music and fashion to the United Kingdom, which influenced the mod and

skinhead A skinhead or skin is a member of a subculture that originated among working-class youth in London, England, in the 1960s. It soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working-class skinhead movement emerging worldwide i ...

subcultures. In the late 1970s, the term ''rude boy'' and rude boy fashions came back into use after the

2 tone Two-tone, two tone, or 2 tone, etc., may refer to: Audio and sound * Second-order intercept point#Two-tone analysis, Two-tone analysis, in nonlinear system measurement * Two-tone attention signal * Two-tone Warning chime, chime, such as the "ding ...

band

the Specials The Specials, also known as the Special AKA, were an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, J ...

(notably with a cover of " A Message to You Rudy") and their record label

2 Tone Records 2 Tone Records was an English independent record label that mostly released ska and reggae-influenced music with a punk rock and pop music overtone. It was founded by Jerry Dammers of the Specials and backed by Chrysalis Records. History J ...

instigated a brief but influential ska revival.Panter, Horace. ''Ska'd for Life''. Sidgwick & Jackson, 2007. In this same spirit,

the Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...

contributed " Rudie Can't Fail" on their 1979 album ''

London Calling ''London Calling'' is the third studio album by the English rock band the Clash. It was originally released as a double album in the United Kingdom on 14 December 1979 by CBS Records, and in the United States in January 1980 by Epic Records. ...

'', and The Ruts their 1980 single "Staring at the Rude Boys". In more recent times in multicultural Britain, the term ''rudeboy'' has become associated with street or urban culture, and is a common greeting. The term ''rudeboy'' has become associated with music genres such as

ragga Raggamuffin music (or simply ragga) is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music with heavy use of sampling. Wayne Smith's " Under Mi Sleng Teng", produced by King Jammy in 1985 on a ...

jungle jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅgala'' ...

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

UK garage UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England in the early to mid-1990s. The genre was most clearly inspired by garage house and jungle production methods, but also incorporates elements from ...

, and grime – although is still used by many ska and

bands, old and new – predominantly in the UK and USA.

References

{{Counterculture of the 1960s Ska Jamaican youth culture Youth culture in the United Kingdom Culture of Jamaica 1960s neologisms Subcultures Counterculture of the 1960s Counterculture of the 1970s

Jamaica

United Kingdom

See also

References