ska

Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, blending Caribbean mento and calypso with American rhythm and blues and jazz. It emerged in Kingston studios and through vocalists and bands that combined upbeat rhythms with jazz-influenced horn arrangements. The genre developed into a faster, more guitar-driven style that laid the groundwork for later Jamaican styles such as rocksteady and reggae.

Musical characteristics of ska include a walking bass line, guitar or piano chords played on the offbeat (the upbeats), and prominent horn sections featuring trumpet, trombone, and saxophone. The tempo is generally brisk, often around 110 to 140 beats per minute. Vocals range from smooth to exuberant, with occasional toasting or early rap-like vocal delivery in some tracks. The distinctive rhythm, sometimes called the “skank,” drives the danceable feel that defined early ska.

Historically, ska arose from a fusion of Caribbean musical forms with American R&B and jazz, with key Jamaican producers and bands such as Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One and the Skatalites helping to codify the sound in the 1960s. Ska evolved into rocksteady and, by the mid-1960s, reggae. In the late 1970s, two-tone ska emerged in the United Kingdom, a fusion of Jamaican ska with punk rock and glitter aesthetics, led by bands like the Specials, Madness, and the Selecter, and characterized by racially integrated lineups and social commentary. The 1990s saw a third wave of ska, especially in the United States, blending ska with punk and other genres in bands like No Doubt and Reel Big Fish.

Ska remains influential for its rhythmic vitality and its role in the global spread of Jamaican music.