In this day in musical age, music is not only limited to the exciting sounds of pop, the hard jams of metal, or indie’s slick catchiness, but it extends to a world filled with legendary genres that remains greatly unheard of. One genre in particular, remains in th ebackdrop of the music scene, while it flourishes it as much more than what meets the ear: reggae.
Reggae rose to fame in the 1960’s, a genre popularized by the one and only Bob Marley. However, after decades of its existence, this seemingly simple and relaxing music has morphed into a genre that goes beyond alluding to marijuana and other surfaced level themes.
“Reggae…a lot of people think it’s about like weed and drugs,” Senior Trumpet player and member of reggae/ska band Clairevoyant, Enrique Amarillas, comments, “But when you listen to a lot of it, it’s actually about unity and love, like ‘one love’. Its talking about the spiritual side of finding peace within yourself…”.
Not only does it pertain to soulful messages and being laid back, but reggae speaks of the political unrest and corruption in this world.
Such issues have always been a part of history, “We were the students but now we’re the ones who teach…but we ain’t kids no more and we don’t need a speech,” the band SOJA discusses in their 2012 song Mentality, singing about the strength of students, moving onto discussing how students use this to fight challenging opinions, “You’re right and we’re forever wrong, Iraq and Afghanistan and Vietnam..Bp Oil and your hydrogen bomb, you go forwards never, backwards ever…”.
A call to attention for the spread of awareness is a must in this band’s message who aspire to create a social revolution amongst young adults through their reggae music. Their lyrics pertain to world hunger, hatred, and different philosophies about happiness and joy.
Another group, The Green, informs on the Hawaiian culture, family, and love through the power of their music. This band truly emphasizes the need for unity and strength in numbers, a message they demonstrate into their song “Never” from their 2010 self titled album, “ How…are we ever going to unify if we keep on fighting?” in relation to the political gridlock in today’s society.
Every band obtains a different message and mission, but reggae explores several different ideas aside from money, social status, and materialistic objects. These ideas impact the masses in different ways and Senior reggae-lover, Alyssa Valenzuela, explains this impact on her mood, “When I listen to reggae I just become…stress-free…” going on to name her top 5 favorite bands: Pepper, 311, Slightly Stoopid, The Expendables, and Rebelution.
Other bands worth checking out include Natural Vibrations, J-Boog, (ska inspired) Three Legged Fox, and Passafire, a slow and intense group.
