Reggae fusion
| Reggae fusion | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Late 1970s to early 1980s in North America, Jamaica and Europe |
| Typical instruments | |
| Subgenres | |
| Fusion genres | |
| Euro reggae | |
| Other topics | |
| Music of Jamaica – List of reggae fusion artists | |
Reggae fusion is a fusion genre of reggae that mixes reggae or dancehall with other genres, such as pop, rock, R&B, jazz & drum and bass.
Although artists have been mixing reggae with other genres from as early as the early 1970s, no official term had been used to describe this practice. Artists such as UB40 were described using terms that joined the various genres they performed (e.g. reggae funk, reggae pop, reggae-disco). It was not until the late 1990s when the term was coined.
The subgenre predominantly evolved from late 1980's and early 1990s dancehall music which instrumentals or riddims contained elements from the R&B and hip hop genres. Due to this, some consider dancehall artists such as Mad Cobra, Shabba Ranks, Super Cat, Buju Banton and Tony Rebel as pioneers of reggae fusion. For some of these artists, such as Buju Banton, reggae fusion became a staple throughout their careers. However, reggae fusion can be traced back to before the success of these artists, as far back as the late 1970s and early 1980s, where songs such as Pass the Dutchie & the band Third World blazed the trail finding international success with songs such as "Now That We Found Love" and "Try Jah Love". Therefore, Third World can be seen as arguably the original pioneers of reggae fusion leading the way for groups such as UB40 and Steel Pulse.
Although there were a few recognized reggae fusion artists in the late 80s to mid-1990's, such as the aforementioned acts in addition to others such as Sublime, Maxi Priest, Shinehead, 311, First Light, The Police and Inner Circle, their style of fusing genres was subtly done. Artists such as Diana King, Patra, Buju Banton, Ini Kamoze, Snow and Shabba Ranks followed in their footsteps, however, creating a less subtle fusion by further blending heavier Jamaican dialect as well as more hardcore and sexual lyrics in their songs. This led to a lot of crossover success for these artists with songs such as "Informer" and "Here Comes the Hotstepper" reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as topping charts all around the world. As the subgenre began to take shape, the mid to late 1990's saw artists becoming more innovative as many began to mix genres that were not similar nor typically associated with reggae, such as techno and house, leading to the subgenre gaining a more distinctive following and really beginning to grow. Ironically, however, a major contributing factor to the subgenre garnering further international prominence was due to the lack of marketability of dancehall, especially in its rawest form, in the United States.
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