reggae

Meaning

Noun

• A form of music originating in Jamaica and associated with Rastafarianism, featuring a heavy bass line and percussive rhythm guitar on the offbeat, often with close vocal harmonies.

Origin

• From Jamaican Creole rege ("rags; a quarrel"), see rag; originally used in the 1960s to describe a Jamaican dance. Broader musical sense popularized by the 1968 song "Do the Reggay".