It was Bob Marley who made reggae into an international phenomenon. In the wake of his success in the 1970s came a host of other names, and it wasn't long before reggae became an established genre of music. But reggae was simply the growth, the development, of what had been happening in Jamaican music.  Beginning with ska, and then rock steady, the loudest island in the world had declared its real musical independence, and had already made an imprint on the world, albeit a small one.

Jamaican music itself has changed considerably over the past 35 or so years.  Dub music is the result of the engineer restructuring the sound on the mixing board.  Lovers rock, deejays, dub poetry all come from the root.  Dancehall and Jungle music are the latest trends in this everchanging Jamaican sound.  The emigration of Jamaicans and other West Indies to Europe and North America has both spread the vibe and blended other musical ideas to Reggae.