Rastafari / Rastafarianism and Reggae Essay

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46). Nowadays, Rastafarianism is a strong Jamaican tradition.

Reggae Music

Also tied to the experience of social oppression was the growing popularity for the emerging Reggae music. Reggae music came directly out of the religious fervor of the Rastafarians and their desire to remove themselves from the constraints of traditional society through forms of protest. Jamaica had long been experiencing tumultuous political tensions, which proved the perfect breeding grounds for Rastafarianism and the musical traditions which came with it. Early in the 1950s, a new musical sound named Ska came out of Jamaican indigenous music, American jazz, and rhythm and blues. According to research, "On the surface, ska was happy content -- even cheery -- music. But if one listened closely between the polrhythmic pulses of the music, ska was as deceptive as the government's attempt to paint the country with a color-blind palette of national unity," (King et al. 4). As a result of the truthful telling of political tensions, much ska was banned from Jamaican radios. Eventually, this paved the way for the birth of Reggae later in the 1960s.

Reggae is heavily influenced by both Western and African traditions. It is obvious that much of its roots comes from American musical traditions. Yet, "While reggae musicians were influenced by both American R&B and soul music, many of these musicians started to make a musical exodus to Africa," (King et al. 46). This signaled a look back to African traditions in order to show the driving force within Reggae as it is tied to the basic principles of Rastafarianism. According to research, "Reggae's slower, heavier, almost hypnotic rhythms harkened a return to Africa," (Barry & Foster 46). This was then a musical expression of the basic fundamental elements of Rastafarian teachings and practice.

Reggae came to fruition out of the tense political atmosphere of Jamaica in 1968.

In such socially oppressive times, "Reggae became a more explicit medium of political protest," (King et al. 46).

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It was a way to take the anger and protest from the religious traditions of Rastafarianism and move them into a more universally understandable medium that could then permeate outside the boundaries of the island nation into the global arena. According to research, "Reggae artists created a new, more aggressive image of Rastafarianism," (Barry & Foster 47). The popularity of this music worldwide then took the internal struggle of the Rastafarians in Jamaica and gave it a global spot light.

It has strong ties to the Hebrew influence of Rastafarianism as well. Reggae became a medium for the adaptation of ancient Hebrew psalms to the modern Jamaican experience. Research states that the" Hebrew Psalms have found a permanent home in the musical rhythms of Rastafari (the movement) and its tribute to the powerful reggae cultural revolution of the last decades, but it also shows how profoundly the Bible resonates with the political ideology of the Jamaican Rastafari," (Murrell 525). In fact, it was from the Hebrew Psalms that the name for God in Rastafarianism was found -- Jah. These Psalms became a religious base for expressing the feelings of oppression that were experienced by blacks in Jamaica at the time. The provided identical experiences with the ancient Hebrews of the Middle east and their plight to find liberty in a land that seemed to hate them; "These Psalms supply the lyrics for the popular reggae songs that publicize the movement's ethos and the definitive mission -- liberation and freedom from political domination and equality for the people of God," (Murrell 527). Thus, Reggae music is a culmination of cultural, political, and religious elements in a creative form of musical expression.

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