ENTITY · GENRE
Rocksteady
Well supported
The music Jamaica made between ska and reggae, roughly 1966 to 1968. The tempo dropped, the horns receded, the bassline stepped forward and singing — especially harmony singing — took the space the pace had opened. Alton Ellis's "Rock Steady" gave it a name; the Techniques, the Paragons, the Heptones and Slim Smith gave it a repertoire that the whole of reggae has drawn on since. Brief as it was, more foundational rhythms come from these two years than from any comparable stretch.
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Debate & reception
How people argued about the music — praise, criticism and public debate. See all debate & reception →
debate
The rude boy: did ska and rocksteady glamorize the gunman?
Across the ska and rocksteady years, records split sharply over the 'rude boy' figure of the armed Kingston youth. One camp of songs condemned or pleaded with the rudies to stand down (Alton Ellis's 'Cry Tough'/'Dance Crasher', Justin Hinds's 'No Good Rudie', Derrick Morgan's 'Cool Off Rudies'); others celebrated the outlaw style (Desmond Dekker's '007 Shanty Town', Prince Buster's Al Capone persona). Critics and moralists charged that the music romanticized violence, while defenders — and producers like Lee 'Scratch' Perry, who answered Buster's authoritarian 'Judge Dread' — argued the songs documented and even justified youth pushed into crime by a rigged system. The Wailers' 'Simmer Down' is often read as doing both at once: urging restraint while celebrating the toughs. Grounded in Heather Augustyn's skabook 'Real Rude Boys' foundation-ska writing.
Stance: music as social commentary on poverty and injustice vs. music as glorification of criminal violence