Cannabis

The promotion of cannabis use (through lyrics, images and lifestyle) has been a staple of reggae since its inception. The prominence of marijuana in reggae music primarily stems from the Rastafarian religion, which considers marijuana use a sacrament. Jamaica, incidentally, has some of the harshest anti-marijuana laws in the world. Bob Marley's Catch a Fire album cover, showing him smoking a spliff, was controversial at the time the album was first issued. Peter Tosh often performed with a spliff in hand, and lobbied for the decriminalization of marijuana. His most famous song is titled "Legalize It", and he was imprisoned multiple times in Jamaica for marijuana possession.

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.
The term reggae is sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, including ska, rocksteady and dub. The term is more specifically used to indicate a particular style that originated after the development of rocksteady. In this sense, reggae includes two sub-genres: roots reggae (the original reggae) and dancehall reggae, which originated in the late 1970s. Reggae is founded upon a rhythm style characterized by regular chops on the back beat, known as the skank. This rhythmic style is played by a rhythm guitar and a bass drum hitting on the third beat of each measure, known as the one drop. This beat is slower than that found in reggae's precursors, ska and rocksteady. Reggae is often associated with the Rastafari movement, which influenced many prominent reggae musicians in the 1970s and 1980s. However, reggae songs lyrics also deal with many other subjects, including love, sexuality and broad social commentary.
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