Chapter 03 — Rhythms
Reggae
70s
From ska and rocksteady, Jamaica distilled reggae — that offbeat accent, that bass walking like deep thought. But reggae was never just rhythm: it was Rastafari spirituality, social protest, and a sung utopia. Bob Marley made it a global phenomenon without diluting its message, and in the studio Lee Perry invented dub, decades ahead of all electronic music. Rarely has such a small country exported such a big idea.
Key exponents
Bob Marley & The Wailers
1973–1980
The global face of reggae: Rastafari message and melodies that circled the planet.
Toots & the Maytals
1968–1972
They named the genre with 'Do the Reggay' and a voice of pure soul fire.
Lee "Scratch" Perry
1973–1976
Eccentric studio genius: he invented dub and rewrote the rules of production.
Keep rewinding
80s
reggae
Os Paralamas do Sucesso
Singing again
One of the finest rock bands Latin America has produced, and the story of a man who lost his wife, the use of his legs and part of his memory in a single second, and went back to writing songs anyway.
90s
reggae
Skank
Joy, properly made
There is a silly idea worth dismantling: that happy music is minor music. Four guys from Belo Horizonte scored the summers, the loves and the football of an entire generation.
90s
reggae
Los Pericos
Reggae was already there
It is often said they brought reggae to Argentina. It had been playing there six years earlier, and Luca Prodan was playing it. What they did was something else, with its own merit: they made it mainstream.