Even those people who know very little else about Reggae, its music, and its influences, will know the name Bob Marley. He’s the 1980’s Reggae musician who brought his amazing works to the world and shared the idea that three little birds will tell a person that “every little thing is gonna be alright!”
Bob Marley had such a distinctive sound that it reached out and touched almost every corner of the world in his day. Of course, he wasn’t the only Reggae artist by a long shot. But certainly, he became one of the most popular and well-known in this musical style that has deep spiritual roots and an august history in Ska and rocksteady music.
International Reggae Day celebrates this Jamaican style of music and brings it to those unfortunate people in the world who may have yet to experience it.
This is a time to listen up and get into the groove of freedom that Reggae is all about!
How to Celebrate International Reggae Day
Getting into the celebration of Reggae Day should be relaxing and enjoyable, keeping with the laid-back vibe of the music! Try these ideas:
Listen to Some Reggae Music
What would Reggae Day be without Reggae Music? Some of the most popular reggae artists with songs that can be added to a playlist for this day might include:
- Bob Marley. Along with the band, the Wailers, Bob Marley has often been hailed as one of the pioneers of the reggae movement, and together they released 11 albums in their active years from 1973 to 1981.
- Jimmy Cliff. Best known in mainstream circles for “Wonderful World, Beautiful People”, Cliff was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. He has released at least 30 albums.
- Peter Tosh. One of the original members of The Wailers, Tosh later became a solo artist and a promoter of the religious movement, Rastafari. He had at least 14 reggae albums to his name before his tragic death in 1987.
Head to Kingston, Jamaica
There are certainly some great ways to celebrate International Reggae Day, not the least of which is taking a trip down to Kingston to celebrate with some of the best music to be heard the world round.
For those who might have a hard time actually getting down to the area itself, a fun idea would be to dress up in your best Rasta colors and fill the day with amazing Reggae beats.
Watch a Reggae Inspired Film
Get into the culture and music of reggae by watching films that offer insight into the world as it developed.
- The Harder They Come, 1972. This 1972 film made in Jamaica features a poor man (reggae singer Jimmy Cliff) in search of work who is a talented musician but eventually becomes a drug runner and never gets the fame he deserves for his music. This is considered to be one of the most important films to come out of the Caribbean and its soundtrack has been well-loved for almost 50 years.
- Cool Runnings, 1993. A more lighthearted look at the people of Jamaica, this delightful comedy film is based on the true story of the first Jamaican Bobsled team who competed in the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada. A cover of “I Can See Clearly Now” by Jimmy Cliff (from The Harder They Come) became popular from this soundtrack.
- Countryman, 1982. Dedicated to Bob Marley, this film uses a number of his songs on its soundtrack. The story follows two Americans who crash-land their airplane in Jamaica and are aided by a local Rastafarian fisherman who helps them navigate natural dangers as well as a strange political climate.
Cook Caribbean Food
To add a culinary twist to International Reggae Day, cook up some Caribbean recipes and enjoy the flavor and sound of the Reggae culture. Goat meat is incredibly popular down there!
International Reggae Day Timeline
Mento and Early Jamaican Popular Music
Rural Jamaican mento, blending African-derived rhythms with European elements, forms an important foundation for later styles including ska, rocksteady, and eventually reggae.
From Mento to Ska
Jamaican musicians develop ska in the late 1950s, combining mento with American rhythm and blues to create fast tempos, walking bass lines, and offbeat accents that underpin later reggae rhythms.
Birth of Rocksteady
Around 1966, ska slows into rocksteady, a more relaxed, soulful style with stronger bass and vocal lines that becomes the immediate predecessor of reggae.
“Do the Reggay” Names a Genre
Toots and the Maytals release “Do the Reggay,” widely regarded as the first popular recording to use the word “reggae,” helping to name and define the emerging Jamaican style.
Reggae Breaks into the Global Mainstream
The film “The Harder They Come,” starring Jimmy Cliff, along with Bob Marley and the Wailers’ early Island Records releases, brings reggae to international attention in Britain, North America, and beyond.
UNESCO Honors Reggae Music of Jamaica
UNESCO inscribes “Reggae music of Jamaica” on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, recognizing its role in international discourse on injustice, resistance, love, and humanity.
History of International Reggae Day
Originally born out of Ska and rocksteady genres of music in the 1960s, Reggae quickly gained distinction with its unpolished sound and strong dependence on rhythm.
It took a few years as a grassroots movement before it began expanding far beyond its little originating island. It became particularly popular in English-speaking nations such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
Reggae has often been considered a style of music that is perceived as the voice of the oppressed people, particularly as a rejection of the “white-man culture”. Some of the specific guitar effects (called “skengay”) that developed out of Ska music are meant to sound like ricocheting guns, in a nod to the sounds of the ghetto streets in Kingston.
Reggae became a powerful style of music with deep roots by the time Bob Marley joined the scene, and its influence has never really stopped growing in the more than half-century since. The style of reggae has definitely made its mark and spread wide, with tons of different styles and variations popping up.
One of these variations includes a type of poetry called Dub Poetry, which is West Indian Poetry that is then synced up with amazing reggae beats to create a musical poetry style all its own.
International Reggae Day was first held in 1994, and was the brainchild of Andrea Davis, who became inspired to create it after hearing Winnie Mandela give a speech about the hope and strength reggae music had given to South Africans under apartheid.
Since its inception International Reggae Day has been celebrated each year on July 1, in Kingston, Jamaica, and is dedicated to celebrating this style of music that entered into the world in a sleepy little island country in the Caribbean, with thousands of fans and musicians coming from all over the world gathering there to celebrate the amazing history of reggae.
The date for this festival would also go on to hold greater significance, when influential reggae musician Dennis Brown — known as The Crown Prince Of Reggae — passed away on July 1, 1999.
International Reggae Day Facts
Reggae’s “One Drop” Beat Reverses Typical Pop Priorities
A hallmark of reggae rhythm is the “one drop” drum pattern, where the snare and bass drum accent beat three while beat one is left empty or lightly touched.
This reversal of the usual downbeat emphasis found in rock and pop, combined with guitar or keyboard chords on the offbeats, creates the laid-back yet insistent groove that listeners instantly recognize as reggae.
Bass Takes Center Stage in the Reggae Mix
In contrast to many popular genres where bass plays a supporting role, reggae producers typically push the bass guitar to the front of the mix, often making it the loudest musical element after the vocal.
The bass carries both rhythm and melody, using syncopated riffs and octave jumps that lock tightly with the drums and physically drive the sound on large speaker systems.
From Mento to Ska to Rocksteady to Reggae
Reggae’s sound did not appear overnight, but grew from a local continuum of Jamaican styles. Mid‑20th‑century mento drew on African rhythms and European folk forms, which then fed into the fast, horn‑driven dance music of ska in the late 1950s, followed by the slower, smoother rocksteady around 1966.
Reggae crystallized in the late 1960s by taking rocksteady’s heavy bass and relaxed tempo and combining them with more explicitly political and spiritual lyrics.
Reggae Is Recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage
In 2018 UNESCO inscribed “Reggae music of Jamaica” on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The listing cites reggae’s roots in marginalized communities, its function as a vehicle for social commentary and spiritual expression, and its global popularity, affirming the genre as a significant element of world cultural heritage rather than only a commercial music style.
Reggae Emerged as a Nonviolent Protest Voice in Jamaica
Scholarly work on Jamaican politics and culture shows that reggae was embraced by lower‑class Black Jamaicans, peasants, and the unemployed as a nonviolent means of protesting white supremacy, economic inequality, and government oppression.
Through Rastafarian imagery and critiques of “Babylon,” reggae articulated demands for dignity and justice in a society marked by deep class and racial divides.
Reggae Helped Carry Black Liberation Messages Across Borders
As reggae spread beyond Jamaica in the 1970s and 1980s, its themes of liberation, anti‑colonial struggle, and spiritual resistance resonated with movements far from the Caribbean, including campaigns against apartheid and racial segregation.
Analysts note that songs by roots reggae artists became part of a shared global soundtrack for Black liberation, inspiring activists in Africa, Europe, and the Americas.
Reggae Is One of Jamaica’s Strongest Cultural Assets but an Under‑Monetized Industry
Jamaica’s own tourism authorities describe reggae as one of the country’s greatest assets and a key part of “brand Jamaica,” with flagship festivals generating tens of millions of dollars a year in visitor spending.
Yet creative‑economy researchers point out that much of the intellectual property for classic reggae catalogs is owned abroad, leaving Jamaica culturally rich but capturing only a modest share of the genre’s global revenue.
