Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Popular music of Jamaican origin having elements of Calypso and rhythm and blues, usually with an accent placed on the offbeat.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun music A form of music originating in
Jamaica and associated withRastafarianism , featuring a heavy bass line, percussive rhythm guitar on theoffbeat , often with close vocal harmonies.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun popular music originating in the West Indies; repetitive bass riffs and regular chords played on the off beat by a guitar
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.
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Stand-up comic and actor Bob Marley admits that sharing a name with a certain reggae superstar has had its ups and downs.
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Cutting edge meets tradition in German reggae artist Gentleman
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The dub reggae group, known for covering popular artists, including The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Radiohead, are joined by dance group
Virtual Festivals 2010
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+ ordering three pizzas at 2: 30AM and listening to reggae from the TV
tobacco and sesame seeds tragic_elegance 2010
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+ ordering three pizzas at 2: 30AM and listening to reggae from the TV
tobacco and sesame seeds tragic_elegance 2010
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If you don’t know what I mean, you probably haven’t heard The Slackers, the excellent, soul-patched New York City scenesters who have been touring forever and who dabble equally in reggae, jazz, and soul.
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Young’s evocation of reggae is not located in language or even a evoking of the discourse of reggae.
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Its collage style, which mixes archival footage, news clips and interviews, subtly mirrors the surreal effect of the dub reggae on its soundtrack, tracing the experience of black immigrants in postwar England.
Documentary Dramas and Communist Comedies Steve Dollar 2011
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Empresarios touch on everything from dub reggae and modern Brazilian beats to cumbia and trippy downtempo rhythms.
Nightlife Agenda: Eden's new Green Room and Karaoke Championships Fritz Hahn 2011
goatboy commented on the word reggae
Toot's Hibbert from Toots and the Maytals claims to have come up with the word.
"There's a word we used to use in Jamaica called 'streggae'. If a girl is walking and the guys look at her and say 'Man, she's streggae' it means she don't dress well, she look raggedy. The girls would say that about the men too. This one morning me and my two friends were playing and I said, 'OK man, let's do the reggay.' It was just something that came out of my mouth."
January 29, 2008