MUSC 2019 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Ska Stroke, Desmond Dekker, Moshing
Lecture 14 - Ska and Reggae
March 7, 2018
9:48 PM
Ska and Reggae
• Origin in West Indies, Caribbean Islands - specifically Jamaica and Trinidad
• Islands have colonial history
o External power that controlled the people on the island and the island itself
o Colonizers exported the islands' resources that profited the colonizers and industrial
organizations
o Colonialism lasted 300 years
o They recruited slaves to work
o When colonialism ended, the islands' natural resources were left in a mess - people were
left fighting over power and what was left of the resources
• Rude Boy Culture - in Jamaica
o Rude = cool, hip
• Slang
o Specific styles of dress
• Suits, ties, and hats - opposing the poverty they lived in
o Emerged as opposition culture
• Emerged in ghettos of some large cities, such as Kingston (Jamaica)
• ShantyTowns
o Immense poverty - houses built with metal sheets or planks, etc.
• Sound system parties
o Used music and dancing as a way to get over colonialism
o DJs were the star - the one who has the best sound system wins
o Played music (R&B) from America
o Practiced speaking over the music played and added turntables
o Eventually added instruments along with the music, which developed into entire bands
performing
Skanking
• Jamaican mosh pit
• Dancing style has a lot of jagged elbows and knees, and they dance really big
o Suggesting that they're claiming space that were restricted to them
• Dress style and dance acted as opposition to colonization, opposing political oppression
• When colonisers left, they handed over power to a small portion of the population to continue the
oppression and pressure to the rest of the population - they control the population
• Skank guitar
o Percussive, mainly rhythmic
o Played on the off beat - inverts the power relationship in Western organization
• Played on "weak" beats to make them stronger
o Ska base lines often emphasizes off-beats and stays away from strong beats
• Snare drum is turned off, and instead of making a snap sound, it gives a click and an echoing trill
Song: "007 (shantytown)" - Desmond Dekker
• 007 = 7 license to kill
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