Reggae according to the legend Robert Nesta Marley was African in origin, meaning, the kings music. It developed in Jamaica in the late 60's, one of the most influential styles of world popular music.
Bob Marley, one of the most prolific and influential reggae artist gained great international popularity and eventually became reggae`s biggest star. The Jamaican singer, writer and guitarist combined soulful melodies with powerul lyrics that were informed by the biblical mysticism and afro Caribbean awareness of the Rastafarian religion.
During the 1970's Marley and many other Jamaican musicians sang about black unification and liberation. Marley and prominent members of his band the wailers such as Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston openly embraced the verbal image that their music acquired over time. Reggae has undergone numerous transformations though the years as musicians have added various influences and other popular musicians have applied the style.
All over the world Reggae still lives and many popular artists have been or continued to be influenced by the rhythms of reggae including the pop, reggae band UB 40, Shaba ranks, Shaggy, the Beatles, Eric Clapton and American musicians Paul Simon and Steve Wonder. In the Ghanaian setting, Reggae music blows its wind in every corner, actually its appreciated and loved by many but people ignorantly associate it with ?wee smoking?, madness, evil stuff, hey, I beg to differ because even the so called ''religious men and women'' in our society more often than not listen to reggae tracks.
Most gospel musicians use reggae beats in their songs and you simply think a bit deeper before guessing if it [s really all about ?wee smoking? which is supposed to be a sin. Esther Smith's ''Onyame Ben ni'' is a good example of such, Cindy Thompson has also tried it, it goes on beautifully like that. Many pastors surprisingly prefer gospel in the form of reggae to other tunes. Infact, some pastors have actually confirmed this and they believe reggae music spreads the word of God and love. Shasha Marley, Felix Bell, Rocky Dawuni are some of Ghana's proud reggae artist but because reggae hasn't been really given the chance as hiplife, highlife and gospel music we often feel a bit of it everyday. We need to recognize reggae music, we need to have an open space for it, and we want to feel what reggae is.
Bob Marley once said, and this happens to be my favourite ;''They say the sun shines for all but in some people's world it never shine at all. They say love is a stream that would find its course, some people think life is a dream so the`re making matters worse'' this tells us how philosophical and wise reggae music is. Lets give our brothers and sisters who present the red, gold and green of Ghana a chance to give out their best, who knows Reggae music could take over the Ghanaian music scene in the year 2010.
