An Exploration of Jamaican Music And Its Heritage - Part 1
- Yamsemaj Notoa
- Oct 20, 2022
- 1 min read
Local musicians playing traditional music, St. Anne, Jamaica | © Yevgen Belich/Shutterstock
Today it is time to explore Jamaican music. Something that is a constant fixture in my life, quite literally, the floor of my office usually rumbles throughout the day to the low tones of Reggae and Lover's Rock. Mento seems to me to be a good place to begin our quest of knowledge, being the beginning of Jamaican music itself.
Mento is a type of Jamaican folk music that predated ska and reggae that was a rhythmic fusion of African and European elements (which is no surprise, given our cultural and historical heritage). It was most popular in the early 20th century before becoming over shadowed by its successors in the 1960s. Often Mento is mixed up with Calypso but it is distinct from this genre from Trinidad and Tobago.
Mento typically features acoustic instruments, the rhumba box (a large mbira in the shape of a box which can be sat on whilst being played), and often contains lyrics that focus on social issues and sexual innuendo is also quite common. Lyrics commented on poverty, poor housing, poor opportunities and other social issues in a light-hearted and often humorous way.
Some examples:
An example of Early Mento performed by a band
Blue Glaze Mento Band
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