Mr. Powhida
Digital Portfolio
December14th, 2007
Project Essay
The importance of reggae music wasn’t just about how their lyrics went along with the beat. It was to uplift the people’s spirit in a difficult period of Jamaican society and to send a message to the government that the people want a better life, but it seems as the years go by the messages became something different from what it used to be.
“The word "reggae" was coined around 1960 in Jamaica to identify a "ragged" style of dance music,” according to Piero Scaruffi, author of Jaimaca: The Mento. Songs like Slave Driver by Bob Marley speaks about slavery and how they were treated “Today they say that we are free, only to be chained in poverty” (Marley). The quote from the song which they’re free from slavery but still chained to poverty meaning life isn’t much better than it was when they were slaves. Bob Marley made Reggae popular around the world with his songs
Music has come along way since Bob Marley, days people still sing songs to send a message but it’s the message that the artists of today is sending is what makes today’s music different from a Bob Marley song or any song from back in the day. The message these artists send is not really about telling the government what the people needs, its about telling the people of Jamaica how bad they are and the type of guns they carry. I feel that about 85% of the artist in Jamaica speaks about how they would kill and treat a girl when it comes to sex.
During the time when Bob Marley was singing about the poverty n violence going on to today nothing has really change except for the way people use music to deliver a message. Bob Marley and other artists like Garnet silk, Dennis Brown, and Buju Banton used music to deliver a positive message to the people and for artists like Vybz Kartel, Movado, aidonia, their message to the people is how they would kill each other. Nobody really pay attention the fact that Jamaica is still in he same position it has been in for years with no change.
Even thought music has been what I would say corrupt one thing hasn’t changed and it is that people still listen to it for entertainment no matter what the artists are saying. People still love to hear a Bob Marley song but they would prefer to listen to a Vybz Kartel or Movado threat.
Works Cited
Scaruffi, Piero. Jamaica: the mento. Scaruffi.com. 2003. Dec 2007. http://www.scaruffi.com/history/reggae.html
Marley, Bob. Slave Driver. oldielyrics.com. 9 Jan. 2008.
