The Slang Word That Named Reggae—And Changed Music Forever Late 1960s Kingston, Jamaica. The island was suffocating under poverty, political violence, and economic collapse. But a new sound was emerging from Trench Town—a sound that would become the voice of the oppressed worldwide: reggae. Reggae evolved from ska (upbeat, horn-driven) and rocksteady (slower, soulful) in Jamaica's late 1960s. Musicians slowed the tempo, emphasized the bass, and created that distinctive offbeat guitar "skank." Bu