You know, it's a funny thing, but it seemed like white people embraced reggae music first, long before WE did and that's a damn shame!! Bob Marley and the Wailers were selling out shows in Germany and England while we were too busy shaking our asses to disco....and then we picked up on it later.

I prefer Bob's reggae and that of the old school than to the dancehall stuff by Sean Paul and those other guys who are making music now...

Europeans to this day praise our old school veterans while here in the US, they are refered as "has-beens." They may be has beens but what they have is more than what today's artists have.

Unfortunately exposure was and continues to be the problem for more AAs to experience reggae music.  If you can't see it, and can't hear it doesn't mean its not there, its just, the exposure has not been there in quantity as you see now.  Now Black people are more in tuned with reggae than ever.  In the 70s, and during Marley's days the exposure was far different.  American Blacks were too strung out on funk and r&b, not that anything was wrong with that but, reggae was miles and eons ahead sonically and consciously,and had implemented something funk & r&b could not, truth & rights.  Sure America had its Marvin Gayes, Isaac Hayes and Curtis Mayfields, but their messages were too far in between to make a strong difference. 

In reggae, from as early as 1960, strong political references, cultural, african and spiritual messages are consistent through that period up until Marley's passing.  After his passing, there was a strange assault on many artists of that generation in reggae.....so many died senselessy,

King Tubby, Tenor Saw, Peter Tosh, Nitty Gritty, Jacob Miller, Hugh Mundell, so many and they were young up coming stars in Jamaica.  But if you listen to that music of that period, it is still fresh, resounding and captivating.  Its the only music I'll purchase.  I like Sean Paul, but I'd never $ his music.  Jamaican music period has a very interesting history, and its time for Blacks to really big it up.

Rootsyd

i absolutely LOVE reggae music...almost had a fit when i found "third world's" cd with "forbidden love" on it...

i can't really get into the dancehall stuff...i like the ole skool reggae (if ole skool is the correct term)

admittedly i do like buju's music, and i still like to listen to chaka demus and pliers, but for the most part i prefer the marley's, beres hammond, burning spear, and oh too many to name...

I don't know if this is true or not. I've heard when Marley joined hands with Manley and Seaga and bolt of lightning occurred at that moment.

That music is incredibly deep

reggaeton is not original. it's just sung in spanish. jamaincan (now dancehall) artists--toasters, originally--invented the chat and riddim. reggaeton is recycled music beginning with El General...and what's unfortunate is that certain cultures will take reinvention and mistake it for seminal. i recently read an article about reggae's japanese explosion, and well, while there are many fans in that country who know and appreciate the source culture, their are others who are coming up listening to japanense reggae imitators who give no credit--unabashedly--and claim that music as they do kabuke.