Old Skool Reggae and Danchall

Music artists like Super Cat, Beres Hammond, Cocoa Tea, Barrington Levy, Chaka Demus, Pliers, Red Rat and the king of dancehall, Beenie Man have become the most cherished in all of reggae and Dancehall. There are many more artists not listed because there are tons and tons of artists that all deserve respect for their careers and all that they do for reggae and dancehall music. If I had to choose who my top three favorite artists are, I would choose Beres Hammond, Cocoa Tea, and finally Red Rat. The lyrical content that old school reggae artists have is sort of hard to understand because of the Jamaican language. Jamaicans speak patois as their language, which is broken english. When they sing with this language it is really cool to really listen to their lyrics. Not only are their lyrics different from American Reggae, but what they name their songs is just as weird. The titles of their songs are quite smart when you think about it and then there are some that are just straight foolish.

Bob Marley started the old school reggae movement long before dancehall even started. In fact, old school reggae was first made popular by Bob Marley and Dennis Brown in the early to late 60’s. Dancehall would later start in the 1970’s by Yellowman, Capleton, Tenor Saw, Beres Hammond, etc. Bob Marley lived through hard times but never gave up one night at a performance. He was sick from melanoma and eventually died 1981 in Florida. His music from that point blew up to become the most loved reggae artist because of his love for everything. He was a good-hearted man and inspired others to become just as good as he was. Eventually Shabba Ranks, Lady Saw, Lady G, Mr. Vegas would come in the 1980’s and 90’s. Dennis Brown lived a short life as he passed away in 1999. His music was a hit for over a decade and many artists based his music in their own music to keep the ‘lovers rock movement’ still strong.

All of these artists changed the way dancehall and reggae because of the style and manner they made their music. Shabba for example, based his music sexually because during the 90’s, treating a girl right was the first priority in a Jamaican man’s agenda. Seems a bit hysterical but this was quite true for more than a decade. The clubs where dancehall would be played would be packed and girls and guys would dance to these same artists plus many more. The way they danced is the way high school teens dance nowadays but in a more graphic way. These same artists are still making music to this day. There music will go down in history and forever be known as Old School Reggae and Dancehall!