Roots Reggae
Roots reggae is the 1970s form of reggae centered on Rastafari faith, African identity and the struggles of poor people in Jamaica.
It has slow, deep grooves with heavy bass, one drop drumming and hand drumming drawn from Rastafari Nyabinghi music, and lyrics about spirituality, justice and returning to Africa. Its heyday was the second half of the 1970s, and it is the form that made reggae known worldwide. Its serious, spiritual tone separates it from the lighter early reggae before it and the faster, party-minded dancehall that followed.
Artists it is known for: Burning Spear, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Culture, Black Uhuru.
- Family
- Reggae & Caribbean
- On Spotify
- A current genre
- What it is
- A genre
- From
- Jamaica, 1970s
- Also called
- roots
- Trackify listeners who play it
- 2%
About 1,500 of 83,000 Trackify listeners with public profiles have roots reggae among their top artists of the last four weeks. Rounded; updated 13 November 2026.
Roots Reggae artists
Bob Marley & The Wailers
Natiruts
Stick Figure
Rebelution
Damian Marley
Gondwana
Los CafresThe roots reggae artists most Trackify listeners have in their top fifty. Each opens on Spotify.
Sources
The definition is written for this site from open sources, and was checked against them on 13 November 2026.