The Definition of Ska

Basic Definition of Ska

• Originating from Jamaica, and gaining popularity in the United States and the UK in the 1950s and 1960s, ska reflects the influences of many other types of music, including blues, jazz, and others, as well as Jamaican mento music. The most basic definition of ska is that it is characterized by an upbeat tempo and sound and music in 4/4 time and features many different instruments, most frequently horns and guitars.

Early Development

• Early ska musicians in Jamaica were influenced by the music that they heard on American and British radio, and adapted the attitudes reflected in this music into the sound and style of ska. Some of the earliest ska songs were covers of popular American and British songs at the time. One of the earliest, and what some consider to be the first recorded ska song, "Easy Snapping," was recorded in 1959 by Theophilus Beckford. Other early ska musicians, such as Desmond Dekker and The Skatalites, are known as "traditional" or "first wave" ska bands.

Ska and the Rude Boy Culture

• In the 1960s and 1970s, the rude boy subculture in Jamaica also influenced and helped remake the definition of ska. Initially, rude boys were impoverished Jamaican street youths who were frequently employed by DJs to cause trouble at the street dances of rival DJs. Despite the upbeat tempo of the music itself, ska lyrics of the time were filled with references to rude boy culture and the violence that was often associated with it.

  Overtime, influential British ska bands like The Specials and Madness redefined rude boy culture and the definition of ska by portraying rude boys, without any of the earlier undertones of violence, as fun-loving, flashy dressers who listened to ska music. Early British ska is often defined as "two-tone" or "second wave" ska.

Ska in the United States

• In the 1980s the influence of British ska bands led to the formation of many groups such as The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and The Toasters. The definition of ska was changed yet again due to the mingling of punk and ska music styles, which helped to expand the genre itself as well as its popularity. Ska music from the 1980s on is called "third wave" ska, and is characterized by the influences of both punk and pop music.

Modern Ska

• Ska music experienced another resurgence in the mid-1990s, and several ska and ska-influenced bands, such as No Doubt, Sublime, and Reel Big Fish, among others, gained widespread popularity during this time, and several bands that formed during this period are still producing albums. While the definition of ska may have changed slightly over the years, the influence of ska can still be heard in the music of today.