The Caribbean
The sound of Jamaica
Reggae is the export; ska, rocksteady and dub are the chain it came from and the last of them reinvented what a recording studio is for. Dub's influence on everything electronic is hard to overstate.
167 artists in the catalog.
What Jamaica does that nowhere else does
Genres far more common here than across the rest of the catalog. The multiplier is how much more common, weighted by how many artists carry it.
Five records to start with
Not a canon — a way in. Each one links to what it is, who it's for and where to go next.
Jamaican artists worth walking into
Ordered by how much we can tell you, not just by how well-known they are.
Jimmy Cliff
reggae · ska
Where to start →Sean Paul
dancehall · pop music
Where to start →Grace Jones
contemporary R&B · disco
Where to start →Shaggy
reggae
Where to start →Bob Marley & The Wailers
reggae
Where to start →Anthony B
reggae
Where to start →Burning Spear
dub music · roots reggae
Where to start →Luciano
reggae
Where to start →Vybz Kartel
dancehall · hip-hop
Where to start →Augustus Pablo
dub music · reggae
Where to start →Mighty Diamonds
reggae
Where to start →Harry Belafonte
calypso · folk music
Where to start →