Reggae originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s, evolving from earlier Jamaican genres including ska and rocksteady. As ska's frenetic tempo slowed into the smoother grooves of rocksteady, musicians like Toots Hibbert of Toots and the Maytals — often credited with coining the term "reggae" — and the early recordings of Bob Marley and the Wailers began to define a new sound. This music featured a deliberate, laid-back tempo with the guitar and keyboard emphasizing the offbeat (the "skank"), while the bass guitar and drums locked into deep, hypnotic grooves that became the genre's rhythmic foundation.

The genre's rise to international prominence is inseparable from the figure of Bob Marley, whose albums like Catch a Fire, Burnin', and Exodus brought reggae to a global audience in the 1970s. Marley's music was deeply intertwined with Rastafarian philosophy — a spiritual movement rooted in the African diaspora, the repatriation to Africa, and reverence for Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. Through songs like "Get Up, Stand Up," "Redemption Song," and "One Love," Marley articulated a vision of resistance against oppression, spiritual liberation, and universal brotherhood that resonated far beyond Jamaica's shores. Other towering figures of the era — Peter Tosh, Burning Spear, and Jimmy Cliff — similarly channeled reggae as a vehicle for political consciousness and cultural pride.

Behind the scenes, the innovations of Jamaican producers and sound engineers were equally transformative. Lee "Scratch" Perry, King Tubby, and Scientist pioneered dub, a production-driven offshoot of reggae that stripped songs to their rhythmic skeletons and saturated them with echo, reverb, and studio effects. Dub's revolutionary approach to the mixing desk as an instrument had a profound influence on electronic music, hip-hop, and post-punk, establishing Jamaica as one of the most sonically innovative music cultures in the world.

Reggae's influence extends across the globe and continues to evolve. In the United Kingdom, bands like Steel Pulse, Aswad, and UB40 developed a distinctly British reggae sound, while artists across Africa, South America, and the Pacific Islands have adapted the genre to their own cultural contexts. The twenty-first century has seen a new generation of Jamaican artists — Chronixx, Protoje, Koffee, and others — revitalizing roots reggae while incorporating contemporary production techniques. In 2018, UNESCO inscribed reggae on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, affirming the genre's enduring significance as a global cultural force.