The study of heraldry and related subjects, such as genealogy and vexillology.

The history of ska music is interesting as since its birth ska has continued to develop into many different styles. In forty years ska has enjoyed three waves of popularity around the world. This essay attempts to trace ska music's history, the roots, the birth, the styles and, hopefully will offer you some interesting facts.

EARLY JAMAICAN CULTURE
To fully understand the origins of ska and trace its unique musical elements we must understand some important parts of Jamaican history. The island of Jamaica was first visited by Europeans in 1494 by Columbus. The British won the right to colonize and began shipping slaves from the west coast of Africa to work on newly set up plantations. By 1807 there were over two million Africans in Jamaica working on English plantations in the most brutal systems of slavery in the world.

The slaves tried hard to hold on to their African philosophy and established their own system of beliefs and values in their slave communities. Some forms of African music, such as the Burru were allowed by the white masters who believed it would help the slaves to work faster. At times the slave musicians were also called upon to entertain the white masters. The type of entertainment provided by the slave musicians followed a carnival tradition and allowed the oppressed performers to dress and act like kings, queens, lords and ladies for the amusement of the white masters. In the 1960's this tradition was continued by performers who adopted royal t...

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