People around the world are major fans of the music and musicians who call the Caribbean nation of Jamaica home. Jamaica might have a population of just 2.83 million (with another 2 million in the diaspora), but its musical impact has reached millions upon millions more people worldwide.
Here in the United States, we can proudly lay claim to the great Jamaican American Harry Belafonte, who joined the ancestors this April.
But there’s a long list of other Jamaican American musicians who may surprise you. Join me in celebrating Jamaica’s independence with a look at her music and musicians.
RELATED STORY: Black Music Sunday: Celebrating Harry Belafonte on International Jazz Day
Black Music Sunday is a weekly series highlighting all things Black music. With 170 stories (and counting) covering performers, genres, history, and more, each featuring its own vibrant soundtrack, I hope you’ll find some familiar tunes and perhaps an introduction to something new.
Before diving into the music, let’s start with how Jamaica gained its independence 62 years ago.
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In August 2022, historian Alexandra Miller distilled the journey for the Ohio State University’s “Origins” historical magazine.
On August 6, 1962, the island of Jamaica became an independent nation, making it the first sovereign English-speaking country in the Caribbean. The tremendous victory of this likkle but tallawah island (“small but mighty” in Jamaican) was one triumph in the long history of Black sovereignty and nationalism that led to the disintegration of the British empire in the Caribbean.
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Jamaica remained a British colony for almost three hundred years through the Maroon Wars (1728-1739/40 and 1795-1796), Tacky’s Rebellion (a defining revolt in the British Caribbean in 1760), and Britain’s abolition of the slave trade in 1807 and of slavery as an institution in 1834.
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The Jamaica Independence Act was [formally] presented on May 22, 1962, was later approved by Royal assent on July 19, and came into effect on August 6.
Today, Jamaica’s independence day, as well as Trinidad and Tobago’s on August 31st, mark a necessary transition for the Atlantic world. Indebted as well to Haiti, the world’s first free Black republic in the Western Hemisphere, which declared independence from France in 1804, Jamaica’s nationalist journey reflects a longer history in the partial collapse of Britain’s foothold of Caribbean colonialism (partial because Britain still holds several overseas territories including Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, and Turks and Caicos).
This 20-minute video from YouTube channel Crónica Panamericana delves deeper into Jamaica’s political history.
From the video notes:
This video explores the basics of Jamaican history and politics to explain how the island went from a Spanish colony to a British one, how despite massive resistance of enslaved people, it never had a successful revolution like Haiti's. It begins with Columbus and goes all the way to the current Prime Minister Andrew Holness, with coverage of the Morant Bay Rebellion, the 1938 Labour Riots etc.
Next year, Jamaica will hold a referendum to determine whether or not they break with the monarchy, as Emiliano Rodríguez Mega reported for The New York Times in May.
The Commonwealth country has scheduled a referendum in 2024 on whether to cut ties to the British monarchy, opening up a debate on how to reshape the society.
As King Charles III put on the centuries-old St. Edward’s crown on Saturday, Jamaica, a Commonwealth member, continued to move ahead with plans to cut ties with the British monarchy — a decision scheduled for a referendum in 2024.
“Time has come. Jamaica in Jamaican hands,” Marlene Malahoo Forte, Jamaica’s minister for legal and constitutional affairs, said in an interview with Sky News this week. “Time to say goodbye.”
She is part of a 15-member committee of officials and experts that is laying the groundwork to modify Jamaica’s Constitution and remove the British monarch as the Caribbean island’s head of state.
Now let’s dive into Jamaican music!
This half-hour(ish) documentary from HGTR Media tracks the nation’s music history over time, which is linked to the changing politics on the island, and it is a treasure trove.
The World Music Network posted its own review of Jamaican music in 2013, going back to the very beginning and extending all the way through to the music of today.
Despite the tiny size of the island, Jamaican music has long been a powerful force on a global scale. Even ignoring the deity that is Bob Marley and his reggae legacy, the island boasts a wealth of extraordinarily popular genres such as dancehall and dub, as well as having a long history of folk music, and lesser known, yet highly influential genres such as mento.
Maroons & The Bongo Nation
Following the arrival of first Columbus, followed by the Spanish, and then Oliver Cromwell’s navy, the island’s indigenous population of Arawaks were soon wiped out. Small numbers of African slaves who had been armed by the Spaniards and instructed to defend the island against the British fled to the hills – where to this day, their descendants, the Maroons, live in secluded communities. Their percussive style of music is difficult to find on recording, but still forms a vital part of the life of Maroons, as it is used in possession ceremonies.
Colonisation bought plantations to Jamaica – which were then thrown into turmoil by 1838’s abolition of slavery. To get around the new laws, plantation owners began secretly trading slaves of Angolan descent – who are the people behind the Bongo Nation, the people behind [the] kumina religion and musical style - which is not dissimilar to Maroon music.
The WMN article also covers the genres of Rastafari, sound systems, ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, dancehall, and ragga. Give it a read!
Jamaican music lover Ricardo Henry’s website, Jamaica Land We Love, also has a wealth of information on Jamaica’s musical genres, including this history of mento.
Jamaican Mento music originated in the 1950's. It is a style of Jamaican music that predates and has greatly influenced Ska and Reggae music. Mento typically features acoustic instruments, such as acoustic guitar, banjo, hand drums, and the Rhumba box (which is a large mbira in the shape of a box that can be sat on while played) which carries the bass part of the music. Lord Flea and Count Lasher are two of the more successful mento artists.
Mento is often times confused with calypso, which is a musical form from the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. Although Mento and Calypso share many similarities, they are separate and distinct musical forms. However, Mento singers frequently used calypso songs and techniques. As in Calypso, mento uses topical lyrics with a humorous slant, commenting on poverty and other social issues.
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Some major 1950's mento recording artists include the likes of Louise Bennett, Count Lasher, Harold Richardson, Lord Flea, Lord Fly, Alerth Bedasse with Chin's Calypso Sextet, Laurel Aitken, Denzil Laing, Lord Composer, Lord Lebby, Lord Power, Hubert Porter, and Harry Belafonte (who is a New Yorker of Jamaican origin). His wildly popular hit records in 1956-1958, including "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" and "Jamaica Farewell," were mento songs which were sold as calypso. Previously recorded Jamaican versions of many Belafonte's classic "calypso" hits can be heard on the Jamaica - Mento 1951-1958 CD released by Frémeaux & Associés in 2009.
Jamaica Uncut offers this short video introduction to mento, which includes conversation with the Doctor Love mento band.
A sad fact can be found in the video notes.
Mento music is the first form of music in Jamaica. It gave birth to Reggae, Ska, Rock Steady and Dancehall, which in tern gave birth to hip hop. The art of Mento music is slowly dying out as most of the players are older and young Jamaicans don’t keep up the practice
The Jolly Boys are one of the most well-known mento groups—as they should be. They’ve been playing since the ‘50s!
[T]he Jolly Boys have been integral to the fabric of Port Antonio’s musical landscape and cultural heritage. Masters of mento, one of Jamaica’s original musics, this band has rocked innumerable private soirées, charmed the traveling elite and toured the world, leaving an indelible mark on everyone who has heard them. Their new album, Great Expectation, introduces a new sound and direction, making them more unforgettable than they have ever been.
The Jolly Boys quickly rose to local prominence in the 1950s as the house band for the Rat Pack’s Jamaica chapter, chaired by the swashbuckling enfant terrible, Errol Flynn. Singing songs of double entendre and ribaldry to those in search of escape and excess, the group served as Port Antonio’s go-to band for thirty years. Being “discovered” by a new generation of world music aficionados in the late 1980s meant that the Jolly Boys could take their musical party on the road. Several album, dozens of countries and thirty years since, the Jolly Boys have become the most recognizable mento band in the world.
Here’s the Boys’ 2014 performance of “Hog Inna Mi Minty,” based on a folk tale about a pesky, thieving pig in the garden.
I am a major fan of Akala (Kingslee James McLean Daley) who is a historian, rapper, journalist, author, activist, and poet.
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His 2016 documentary “Roots, Reggae, Rebellion” is a must-see. From the BBC’s video notes:
In this documentary, Akala sets out to find out more about the music that has had such an impact on his life. He begins by exploring the music's origins in Jamaica, where it offered hope to ordinary people at a time when poverty, political violence and turmoil were ravaging the island. Artists like Bob Marley, Big Youth and Burning Spear began to write about suffering and salvation through Rastafari in their songs. Akala unpicks how all of this evolved.
Back in the UK, Akala reveals how the Jamaican artists and our own British roots reggae bands like Steel Pulse became a cultural lifeline for young black people who were experiencing racism and rejection in their own country. He shows how roots reggae also related to a wider audience, its revolutionary message connecting with an increasingly marginalised UK youth.
Though it is no longer available on the BBC 4 player, the hour-long documentary is on YouTube.
Individual songs aren’t the focus of today’s journey, and Jamaican icon Bob Marley hasn’t been the focus.
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Much of what we see and hear about Jamaican music is very male-oriented, so let’s look at the distaff side. This compilation from DJ Sharpe’s music channel on YouTube clocks in at nearly 80 minutes, and features Rita Marley, Marcia Griffiths, Carlene Davis, J.C. Lodge, Pam Hall, and more.
The tracklist from the video notes can help you navigate this massive musical bounty.
1 Rita Marley: Thank You Jah
2 Rita Marley: Many Are Called
3 Rita Marley: Harambe
4 Rita Marley: Jah Jah
5 Rita Marley: God's Plan
6 Cynthia Schloss: As If I Didn't Know
7 Lorna Bennett: Breakfast In Bed
8 JC Lodge: Gonna Make It Up To You
9 Cynthia Schloss: All The Way In
10 Carlene Davis: Stealing Love
11 Marcia Aitkens: I'm Still In Love
12 Dawn Penn: No No No
13 Nadine Sutherland: I'm In Love
14 Nadine Sutherland: Babyface
15 Cynthia Schloss: Cha La La
16 Rita Marley: There Will Always Be Music
17 Sheila Hylton: Bed Too Big Without You
18 Marcia Griffiths: Fire burning
19 Marcia Griffiths: Closer To You
20 Marcia Griffiths: Melody Of Life
21 JC Lodge: Telephone Love
22 JC Lodge: Selfish Lover
23 Deborah Glasgow: Champion Lover
24 Deborah Glasgow: Don't Test
25 Marcia Griffiths: Childish Games
26 Marcia Griffiths: Land Of Love
27 Marcia Griffiths: I Shall Sing
28 JC Lodge: More Than Words Can Say
29 Marcia Griffiths: All My life
30 Pam Hall: Perfidia
31 Judy Mowatt: Let's Dance
32 Foxy Brown: Fast Car
33 Audrey Hall: One Dance
34 Judy Mowatt: Silent River
35 JC Lodge: Someone Loves You Honey
36 Nadine Sutherland: Until
37 Coral Gonzalez: Spoiled By Your Love
38 Nadine Sutherland: Wicked And Wild
39 Gem Myers: One Man Woman
40 Sophia George: Girlie Girlie
Jamaican Independence Day, as one might expect, also offers some exciting musical events. The Jamaica Cultural Development Commission hosts a festival song competition. The finalists in the competition were streamed live. Enjoy this year’s submissions below—be sure to watch the audience’s reaction!
It’s your turn now, dear readers. Hop into the comments and post your favorite music from Jamaica and the Jamaican diaspora and celebrate!