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Reggae fusion
Reggae fusion is a fusion genre of reggae that mixes reggae and/or dancehall with other genres, such as pop, rock, hip-hop/rap, R&B, jazz, funk, soul, disco, electronic, and Latin music, amongst others.
Artists have been mixing reggae with other genres from as early as the early 1970s, but initially they were described using terms that joined the various genres they performed (e.g. "reggae funk", "reggae pop", "reggae-disco"). It was not until the late 1990s that the term "reggae fusion" was coined.
The subgenre predominantly evolved from late 1980s and early 1990s dancehall music which instrumentals or "riddims" contained elements from the R&B and hip hop genres. Due to this, some consider dancehall artists such as Mad Cobra, Shabba Ranks, Super Cat, Buju Banton and Tony Rebel as pioneers of reggae fusion. For some of these artists, among them Buju Banton, reggae fusion became a staple throughout their careers. However, reggae fusion can be traced back to before the success of these artists, as far back as the late 1970s and early 1980s, with such songs as "Pass the Dutchie", and the band Third World blazed the trail, finding international success with songs such as "Now That We Found Love" and "Try Jah Love". Therefore, Third World can be seen as arguably the original pioneers of reggae fusion leading the way for groups such as UB40 and Steel Pulse.
Although there were a few recognized reggae fusion artists in the late 1980s to mid-1990s, including the aforementioned acts in addition to others such as Sublime, Maxi Priest, Shinehead, 311, First Light, the Police and Inner Circle, their style of fusing genres was subtly done. Artists such as Diana King, Patra, Buju Banton, Ini Kamoze, Snow and Shabba Ranks followed in their footsteps, however, creating a less subtle fusion by further blending heavier Jamaican dialect as well as more hardcore and sexual lyrics in their songs. This led to a lot of crossover success for these artists with songs such as "Informer" and "Here Comes the Hotstepper" reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping charts all around the world. As the subgenre began to take shape, the mid- to late 1990s saw artists becoming more innovative as many began to mix genres that were not similar nor typically associated with reggae, such as techno and house, leading to the subgenre gaining a more distinctive following and really beginning to grow. Ironically, however, a major contributing factor to the subgenre garnering further international prominence was due to the lack of marketability of dancehall, especially in its rawest form, in the United States.
By the late 1990s, dancehall had lost its footing in the American market. While it was initially an appreciated novelty, it had gotten too hardcore lyrically. Further, vocalists started using even heavier Jamaican dialect and less standard English; this made it harder for a wider audience to understand what was being said. It had also come under heavy criticism from the international markets due to the homophobic lyrical content which sought to bash, condemn and instigate violence against the act as well as those who supported or participated in the lifestyle. This led dancehall artists who were trying to break into the U.S. market, to fuse the dancehall style of toasting or deejaying over softer and predominantly pop and hip hop instrumentals as well as to diversify the content of their songs while moving away from homophobic lyrics. Traditional dancehall acts, such as Shaggy and Beenie Man experienced commercial success in the American markets with the release of their albums in 2000. Shaggy had previously experienced multiple chart successes in the '90s but it was his album, Hot Shot, that especially helped further propel the subgenre internationally, as his album spawned two number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, "It Wasn't Me" and "Angel". No Doubt's 2002 massive hit album Rock Steady, with worldwide reggae fusion hits such as "Underneath it All" featuring Lady Saw and "Hey Baby" featuring Bounty Killer, further propelled the subgenre's popularity to new heights. This was especially because it marked one of the first times a pop/ska punk act had made a complete reggae fusion album since the mid-'90s and opened up the genre to a new fan base as reggae fusion was, at that point, mainly utilized by reggae artists trying to break into the mainstream market and not by already established acts, such as No Doubt. The early 2000s also saw Sean Paul achieve tremendous success internationally with singles such as "Baby Boy", "Breathe", "Like Glue" and "Make It Clap", among many others. His albums Dutty Rock and The Trinity altogether spawned five top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits between 2002 and 2006, including the number-one hits "Get Busy" and "Temperature".
Shaggy helped bring reggae fusion to mainstream audiences in the early 2000s with hits like "It Wasn’t Me" and "Angel"...
In the early 1990s, the evolution of reggae fusion reached another musical style in Europe with the worldwide number-one hits "All That She Wants", "The Sign", "Happy Nation" and "Don't Turn Around" by Ace of Base. Eurodance artists such as Dr. Alban, Dreamhouse, E-Rotic and the Vengaboys also regularly fused their style with reggae. The sound was often called Euro reggae and became a trend of Eurodance music, including such songs as Mr. President's "Coco Jamboo", Tatjana's "Sweet Sweet Smile", E-Rotic's "Help Me Dr. Dick", Rollergirl's "Ole Ole Singin' Ole Ola", Garcia's "Bamboleo", Maribel Gonzalez (M:G)'s "If You Think", DJ BoBo's "It's My Life", T-Spoon's "Sex on the Beach" and Vengaboys' "We're Going to Ibiza" and "Uncle John from Jamaica".
The first reggae fusion-influenced riddim was produced in 2005 by Cordell "Skatta" Burrell, which featured deejays on a techno-based instrumental. Reggae fusion is now a regular staple on Jamaican radio stations, especially Zip 103 FM, in the form of singles, mixes and remixes. This has led to more reggae fusion hits being produced as well as making strong waves on the dancehall charts in Jamaica. One such single, "Ramping Shop" (using the same instrumental of Ne-Yo's "Miss Independent") by Vybz Kartel and Spice, was one of the biggest reggae fusion hits in 2008, not to mention one of the top singles in Jamaica of that year, peaking at number one.
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Reggae fusion
Reggae fusion is a fusion genre of reggae that mixes reggae and/or dancehall with other genres, such as pop, rock, hip-hop/rap, R&B, jazz, funk, soul, disco, electronic, and Latin music, amongst others.
Artists have been mixing reggae with other genres from as early as the early 1970s, but initially they were described using terms that joined the various genres they performed (e.g. "reggae funk", "reggae pop", "reggae-disco"). It was not until the late 1990s that the term "reggae fusion" was coined.
The subgenre predominantly evolved from late 1980s and early 1990s dancehall music which instrumentals or "riddims" contained elements from the R&B and hip hop genres. Due to this, some consider dancehall artists such as Mad Cobra, Shabba Ranks, Super Cat, Buju Banton and Tony Rebel as pioneers of reggae fusion. For some of these artists, among them Buju Banton, reggae fusion became a staple throughout their careers. However, reggae fusion can be traced back to before the success of these artists, as far back as the late 1970s and early 1980s, with such songs as "Pass the Dutchie", and the band Third World blazed the trail, finding international success with songs such as "Now That We Found Love" and "Try Jah Love". Therefore, Third World can be seen as arguably the original pioneers of reggae fusion leading the way for groups such as UB40 and Steel Pulse.
Although there were a few recognized reggae fusion artists in the late 1980s to mid-1990s, including the aforementioned acts in addition to others such as Sublime, Maxi Priest, Shinehead, 311, First Light, the Police and Inner Circle, their style of fusing genres was subtly done. Artists such as Diana King, Patra, Buju Banton, Ini Kamoze, Snow and Shabba Ranks followed in their footsteps, however, creating a less subtle fusion by further blending heavier Jamaican dialect as well as more hardcore and sexual lyrics in their songs. This led to a lot of crossover success for these artists with songs such as "Informer" and "Here Comes the Hotstepper" reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping charts all around the world. As the subgenre began to take shape, the mid- to late 1990s saw artists becoming more innovative as many began to mix genres that were not similar nor typically associated with reggae, such as techno and house, leading to the subgenre gaining a more distinctive following and really beginning to grow. Ironically, however, a major contributing factor to the subgenre garnering further international prominence was due to the lack of marketability of dancehall, especially in its rawest form, in the United States.
By the late 1990s, dancehall had lost its footing in the American market. While it was initially an appreciated novelty, it had gotten too hardcore lyrically. Further, vocalists started using even heavier Jamaican dialect and less standard English; this made it harder for a wider audience to understand what was being said. It had also come under heavy criticism from the international markets due to the homophobic lyrical content which sought to bash, condemn and instigate violence against the act as well as those who supported or participated in the lifestyle. This led dancehall artists who were trying to break into the U.S. market, to fuse the dancehall style of toasting or deejaying over softer and predominantly pop and hip hop instrumentals as well as to diversify the content of their songs while moving away from homophobic lyrics. Traditional dancehall acts, such as Shaggy and Beenie Man experienced commercial success in the American markets with the release of their albums in 2000. Shaggy had previously experienced multiple chart successes in the '90s but it was his album, Hot Shot, that especially helped further propel the subgenre internationally, as his album spawned two number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, "It Wasn't Me" and "Angel". No Doubt's 2002 massive hit album Rock Steady, with worldwide reggae fusion hits such as "Underneath it All" featuring Lady Saw and "Hey Baby" featuring Bounty Killer, further propelled the subgenre's popularity to new heights. This was especially because it marked one of the first times a pop/ska punk act had made a complete reggae fusion album since the mid-'90s and opened up the genre to a new fan base as reggae fusion was, at that point, mainly utilized by reggae artists trying to break into the mainstream market and not by already established acts, such as No Doubt. The early 2000s also saw Sean Paul achieve tremendous success internationally with singles such as "Baby Boy", "Breathe", "Like Glue" and "Make It Clap", among many others. His albums Dutty Rock and The Trinity altogether spawned five top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits between 2002 and 2006, including the number-one hits "Get Busy" and "Temperature".
Shaggy helped bring reggae fusion to mainstream audiences in the early 2000s with hits like "It Wasn’t Me" and "Angel"...
In the early 1990s, the evolution of reggae fusion reached another musical style in Europe with the worldwide number-one hits "All That She Wants", "The Sign", "Happy Nation" and "Don't Turn Around" by Ace of Base. Eurodance artists such as Dr. Alban, Dreamhouse, E-Rotic and the Vengaboys also regularly fused their style with reggae. The sound was often called Euro reggae and became a trend of Eurodance music, including such songs as Mr. President's "Coco Jamboo", Tatjana's "Sweet Sweet Smile", E-Rotic's "Help Me Dr. Dick", Rollergirl's "Ole Ole Singin' Ole Ola", Garcia's "Bamboleo", Maribel Gonzalez (M:G)'s "If You Think", DJ BoBo's "It's My Life", T-Spoon's "Sex on the Beach" and Vengaboys' "We're Going to Ibiza" and "Uncle John from Jamaica".
The first reggae fusion-influenced riddim was produced in 2005 by Cordell "Skatta" Burrell, which featured deejays on a techno-based instrumental. Reggae fusion is now a regular staple on Jamaican radio stations, especially Zip 103 FM, in the form of singles, mixes and remixes. This has led to more reggae fusion hits being produced as well as making strong waves on the dancehall charts in Jamaica. One such single, "Ramping Shop" (using the same instrumental of Ne-Yo's "Miss Independent") by Vybz Kartel and Spice, was one of the biggest reggae fusion hits in 2008, not to mention one of the top singles in Jamaica of that year, peaking at number one.