Rastafari and Jamaica

Rastafari began as a religious movement on the outskirts of Jamaican society. A crusade for the appreciation of African roots rooted in the tenets of Garveyism and biblical beliefs of the messianic qualities of Haile Selassie, Rastafari, in its early years, was considered to be radical lunacy by the greater Jamaican population. But over time, this relationship changed from rejection, to acceptance, and finally, to commercial exploitation. Rastafari became a part of popular Jamaican culture through music, and then was accepted as a religion because of sympathetic 1960 study composed on Rastafari, the visit of Haile Selassie to Jamaica, and more general social changes in Jamaica.

Even before 1960, Rastafari ideals began to penetrate Jamaican society through music. Around 1955 or 1956, Jamaican music evolved from ska, a fast-paced music that encouraged dancing and espoused fun and love, to rock steady, a genre with a slower beat and more socially conscious lyrics. Rastafarian social criticism infiltrated some of the rock steady songs. Rock steadily evolved into reggae, a music genre heavily influenced by Rastafari. Reggae, along with Rastafari, basked in a time of acceptance during the late 1960s and early 1970s in Jamaica. Rastafarianism took a step towards acceptance in society through Jamaican popular music.