5 Reggae Artists to Celebrate Other Than Bob Marley
Despite its strong association with Rastafarianism and ganja, the island genre of reggae is a vibrant blend of history told by Black musicians that deserves more recognition than it gets.
Written by Micaela Garza
Illustrated by Darrina Green
“Buffalo Soldier” crooner Bob Marley is undoubtedly the most notable figure painted in folks’ minds when discussing the genre of reggae, but there is a richer history of sound and culture behind it, with deep ties to Rastafarianism and island life framing the landscape of the music.
Before reggae was ska: a characteristically syncopated creation that combined Caribbean calypso and mento with American R&B, heavily popularized by sound system DJs in 1970s Jamaica. Soon after ska came rocksteady, a short-lived and very similar successor that would eventually pave the way for reggae as the world knows it now. With laid-back vibes and plucky instrumentation that contrast soulful lyrical content otherwise laced with political and social commentary, reggae has had a worldwide diffusion since its creation.
From the “Punky Reggae Party” that took over early British punk in the 70s, to the popularization of reggae en español in countries like Panama and Venezuela, there are hundreds of Caribbean artists that have made a lasting impact on music history.
Here are five artists that deserve to be just as celebrated as Bob Marley:
Toots and The Maytals
Marley might be the highly publicized figurehead of the genre, but it was actually Toots Hibbert of The Maytals who coined the term “reggae” for the first time on the 1968 song “Do The Reggay” — so there would truly be no reggae without them. The Maytals have been through three different eras of formation, and through each era, they have been revered for being some of (if not the best) reggae performers of all time. Beginning with a few wins at the Jamaican Independence Festival Popular Song Competition in the late ‘60s, the ska group eventually began working with Chinese-Jamaican producer Leslie Kong to create a handful of O.G. reggae hits, including “54-56 Was My Number,” “Pressure Drop,” and “Funky Kingston.” Founder of Island Records Chris Blackwell had a deep-seated love for the band and particularly for Toots Hibbert, saying, “Toots is one of the purest human beings I’ve met in my life, pure almost to a fault.” The loss of Hibbert in late 2020 was a heartbreaking day for fans and reggae musicians alike, but after a 58-year-long career, it’s safe to say that his contributions to the music industry will be honored forever — and The Maytals will probably keep playing sweet reggae music until they finally meet with Toots again, too.
Sister Nancy
The Kingston native is most well known for her endlessly sampled ‘80s hit “Bam Bam” (which is actually a reworked dancehall version of the Toots and The Maytals original). The tune has been toyed with in electronic songs like “Waterman” by Olav Basoski; Ms. Lauryn Hill interpolated the chorus in her song “Lost Ones;” and in 2017, Jay-Z remixed it on “Bam” featuring reggae prince Damian Marley. To produce the song’s documentary-esque music video, Jay-Z spent two weeks in Jamaica with Marley and invited Sister Nancy to make an appearance as well, recording a robust freestyle version of her timeless track, a piece of history that she says “‘ain’t going nowhere.” After 32 years without collecting any royalties, Sister Nancy finally received rights to 50% of her album One, Two (1982) in 2015. The album carried the hit on which she belts, “Dis woman neva trouble no one / I'm a lady, I'm not a man / MC is my ambishan / I come fi nice up Jamaica,” manifesting her notable place in the history of reggae, a largely male-dominated genre. It also holds powerful tracks like “Ain’t No Stopping Nancy,” where she describes the beginning of her DJ career as a 15-year-old runaway. Nancy also recounts this experience in “Only Woman D.J. With Degree” which she opens with the jarring line: “My name Nancy / I talk with dignity.” While the music industry’s unfair treatment of marginalized artists exploited her, Sister Nancy has always served as a figure of strong, self-assured womanhood that is empowering to listen to and enjoy. Despite being one of few women in an industry that substantially challenged her, the MC proved to everyone, “Sister Nancy, she a one in a 3 million.”
Tenor Saw
Clive Bright, better known as Tenor Saw, was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1966, just as reggae was on the come up. The island native released his second album Fever (1987) with some of his best tracks, among them the titular “Fever” and the Sublime-sampled “Roll Call,” just one year before his unprecedented passing at the age of 21 in Houston. While Saw’s life was cut short, his music has been immortalized, and he is regarded as one of the most influential performers of the digital reggae era that ruled the mid-’80s. Saw was closely linked with other popular reggae singers such as close friend Nitty Gritty, Donovan Germain, and Freddie McGregor, also working with famous dub producers like Sugar Minott and King Jammy throughout his short career. The reggae pioneer was unique in his ability to unite traditional riddims with new-wave dancehall dub, a combination that created a number of songs with an unrivaled coolness, especially distinguished by his signature “whoa-oh” ad-lib. His most notable song, “Ring The Alarm,” helped to popularize the famous “stalag riddim” that characterized much of reggae music in the ‘70s and eventually found its way into dancehall of the ‘80s.
Althea and Donna
Ska and reggae are heavily based on a conglomeration of genres and musical experimentation. While many reggae and dancehall artists have been sampled in recent years, reggae actually utilized its own samples and re-uses ‘riddims’ that were made popular by other songs. A perfect example of this borrowing is found on Althea and Donna’s hit “Uptown Top Ranking,” where the duo sings over “Three Piece Suit” by Trinity, a reworking of the riddim heard on Alton Ellis’ “I’m Still In Love.” Althea and Donna were only 17 and 18 years old, respectively, when “Uptown Top Ranking” hit the UK top charts in 1978; they eventually released an album of the same name. The pair have a more traditional reggae sound as opposed to the dancehall mix that became popular in the years after their success, complete with lyrics that depict social commentary of the era: “Checkin' out the sins of the ghetto / Does the men dem see all this sufferin' / Women has got none, but he's got plenty.” Their smooth, sweet voices crooning in unison on songs like “No More Fighting” or “Make A Truce” offer listeners a relaxing jam session with an irie, feel-good vibe that balances the strong messages these Jamaican teenagers were able to project across oceans and continents.
Peter Tosh
Tosh made up one third of early ska pioneers The Wailers, a group he formed along with the immortal Bob Marley and three-time Grammy Award winning Bunny Wailer. Though he might be the least celebrated of the trio, his spirit remains honored daily as his voice rings through the speakers of reggae lovers across the world. Tosh’s best-known song, “Legalize It,” has become a standard in every reggae playlist, with his passion for the principal Rastafarian tradition of smoking cannabis heard as he chants, “Doctors smoke it / Nurses smoke it / Judges smoke it / Even my lawyer, too / So you've got to legalize it.” The self-taught musician was not just a reggae artist, but also a strong-willed man who advocated for what he believed in — from reveling Rastafari, to promoting the legalization of cannabis, and even voicing a strong opposition to apartheid South Africa throughout his career. In 1987, he won a Grammy Award for his solo album No Nuclear War, sparking a short-lived career revival that unfortunately ended when he died during a home invasion later that same year. From his funky disco-stained cover of “Stepping Razor” to the more traditional ska sounds heard on “Downpressor Man,” Tosh was an artist with history, range, and an effortlessly mesmerizing voice that deserves endless recognition.
As Black History Month comes to an end, it’s important to reflect on the musical contributions of these Black artists, and every Black artist who has managed to succeed in a prejudiced industry. Despite being buried by negative social connotations, reggae is an incredibly rich, colorful genre with artists who write heartfelt music about what they love and believe in. As Tosh once said, “Reggae isn’t something that you hear — it’s something that you feel.”