Editing Dancehall (section)

=== Early developments - Early 1970s ===
Dancehall music, also called ragga, is a style of Jamaican popular music that had its genesis in the political turbulence of the late 1970s and became Jamaica's dominant music in the 1980s and '90s. It was also originally called Bashment music when Jamaican dancehalls began to gain popularity.<ref name=":11" />

They began in the late 1970s among lower and working-class people from the inner city of [[Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston]], who were not able to participate in dances uptown.<ref>{{cite book|title=Sound clash: Jamaican dancehall culture at large |first=Carolyn |last=Cooper |isbn=978-1-4039-6424-3}}{{page needed|date=February 2025}}</ref> Social and political changes in late-1970s Jamaica, including the change from the [[socialism|socialist]] government of [[Michael Manley]] ([[People's National Party]]) to [[Edward Seaga]] ([[Jamaica Labour Party]]),<ref name="Barrow" /> were reflected in the shift away from the more internationally oriented [[roots reggae]] towards a style geared more towards local consumption and in tune with the music that Jamaicans had experienced when sound systems performed live.<ref name="Thompson">{{cite book|last=Thompson|first= Dave|year=2002|title=Reggae & Caribbean Music|publisher=Backbeat Books |isbn=0-87930-655-6}}{{page needed|date=February 2025}}</ref>

Themes of social injustice, repatriation and the [[Rastafari movement]] were overtaken by lyrics about dancing, violence and sexuality.<ref name="Barrow" /><ref name="Thompson" /><ref>{{cite book|first=Donna P.|last= Hope |title= Inna di Dancehall: Popular Culture and the Politics of Identity in Jamaica|publisher= UWI Press|year= 2006}}{{page needed|date=February 2025}}.</ref> Though the revolutionary spirit was present in Jamaica due to this social upheaval, the radio was very conservative and failed to play the people's music. It was this gap that the sound system was able to fill with music that the average Jamaican was more interested in.<ref name="Brewster, Bill 2014">{{cite book|page=119|last1=Brewster |first1=Bill|authorlink=Bill Brewster (DJ)|first2= Frank|last2=Broughton |title=[[Last Night a DJ Saved My Life (book)|Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: the History of the Disc Jockey]]|publisher=Grove Press|year= 2014}}<br>
– {{cite web|url=http://groveatlantic.com/book/last-night-a-dj-saved-my-life/|title=Last Night a DJ Saved My Life |website=Excerpts|access-date=19 March 2019|publisher=[[Grove Atlantic]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414180435/https://groveatlantic.com/book/last-night-a-dj-saved-my-life/|archive-date=14 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Alongside this music was the addition of the fashion, art, and dance that came along with it. This made Dancehall both a genre, and a way of life.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |title=The Essential Guide to Dancehall |url=https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2019/07/essential-guide-to-dancehall |access-date=2023-12-09 |date=July 10, 2019 |last= Taylor |first=Sharine |publisher=[[Red Bull Music Academy]]|website=Features}}</ref>

In contrast to roots reggae, which aimed for respectability and international recognition, dancehall did not hesitate in dealing with the day-by-day realities and basal interests of the average Jamaican—especially that of lower classes—and observing society in a provocative, gritty, and often vulgar manner. Since this put spreading via radio out of the question, dancehall initially gained popularity only through live performances in sound systems and specialized record dealing.<ref>{{cite book | last = Potash | first = Chris | date = 1997 | title = Reggae, Rasta, revolution: Jamaican music from ska to dub |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=_V5aAAAAMAAJ|location = New York | publisher = Schirmer Books | pages = 189–191 | isbn = 9780028647289}}</ref>

Dancehall's violent lyrics, which garnered the genre much criticism since its very inception, stem from the political turbulence and gang violence of late 1970s Jamaica.<ref name=":12" />

In the early days of dancehall, the prerecorded rhythm tracks (bass guitar and drums) or "dub" that the deejay would rap or "toast" over came from earlier reggae songs from the 1960s and 1970s. Ragga, specifically, refers to modern dancehall, where a deejay particularly toasts over digital (electrical) rhythms.<ref name=":12" />