Docs: History of Reggae

From Jamaican independence in 1962 came the horn-centric Ska, the sound-system movement, the rise of Rastafarianism and the emergence of the pop Rocksteady sound in 1966. As economic conditions in the country worsened in the late 1960s, reggae was born, with its new drum feel and stuttering basslines that sped up Rocksteady and added a socially conscious message. By the late 1960s, the reggae invasion of Britain began among its West Indies residents and soon spread to white communities, becoming a national sensation. The irony of the music's hold over its former colonial ruler wasn't lost on the artists. Here are two BBC documentaries—the first on the roots and rise of this form of music (Reggae: The Story of Jamaican Music) and the second (Reggae Britannia) on how reggae became such a force in British rock in the 1970s and beyond...

Here's the BBC's Reggae: The Sound of Jamaican Music...



Here's Reggae Britannia (Part 1)...