A brief history of African Reggae

Though reggae had a presence in Africa nearly since its inception, Bob Marley's 1980 concert in Harare, Zimbabwe is often credited as marking the beginning of reggae in Africa. Rootsworld.com differentiated today's Jamaican reggae with African reggae:

"The [African reggae] sound identifies less with American music and more with the current trends in popular African music. For example, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) native, Alpha Blondy incorporated West African rhythms in his album "Apartheid is Nazism," an album that launched his international career in the early 1980s. More recently, Malian native Askia Modibo, took on a very traditional approach, melding reggae with the pentatonic music of the Wassoulou on "Wass-Reggae," released in 1995. Even the more Jamaican sound of the Nigerian band The Mandators, and later of their lead guitarist Majek Fashek (pronounced "ma-JEEK fa-SHEEK") still emotes an African ambiance. Besides better quality production, the songwriting is clearly superior."

Alpha Blondy was the first major African reggae star. It was specifically the 1984 song, "Cocody Rock" recorded with The Wailers at Tuff Gong studios that put him in the international spotlight. Since Blondy's success, Ivory Coast has produced an impressive roster of popular reggae singers.

According to NPR, Lucky Dube started his recording career singing mbaqanga, the popular urban dance music of South Africa in the 1960s and '70s. However, the genre's popularity was fading by the time he entered the market, so he turned his voice elsewhere: reggae. The title song from his 1987 album Slave was ostensibly about alcoholism, but the political message in the dying days of apartheid was obvious. Dube's career soared from there. When he was shot to death during a carjacking in 2007, he was one of the top-selling artists in Africa in any genre.

This pack combines the West African rhythms so embraced by Alpha Blondy with classic reggae elements.