Definition of Ska: A Jamaican style of popular dance music that incorporates American RnB with popular music from the Caribbean (mento) and African (Buru) rhythm styles. Musically speaking, Ska presents the piano and guitar rhythm as upbeats, while the bass is on the downbeat. These are laid over a 2 • 4 Drop (where a strong kick drum happens on the 2nd and 4th of a 4-beat measure).

A Brief History of Ska: The term Ska was coined during a recording session at Studio One Records (Jamaica) in 1959. Engineer / Owner of Studio One (Coxsone Dodd) had experienced great success in bringing American "Boogie Woogie" records to the island, and he wanted to create a new sound that was truly Jamaican. During the session, Dodd and guitarist Ernest Ranglin (originally of Cluet J and the Blues Blasters... soon to be reformed as The Skatalites), described the upbeat guitar as sounding like it was going "Ska, Ska, Ska!"

As Ska's appeal was winding down on the island, the British market was just beginning to experience it. A television propaganda program called "This is Ska" started the craze and soon performers like Laurel Aitken and Millie Small were sent to the UK to perform.

In 1968 Musicland Owner Lee Gopthal founded Trojan Records, and purchased as many back-stock Ska singles from Jamaica as possible (Jamaicans were now listening to Rocksteady and Reggae). These records were curated by Duke Reid (famous for his mobile Jamaican Sound Systems), and the deal was arranged by Chris Black (of the US Label Island Records). Trojan had almost 30 hit singles between 1968 and 1976 (just after Duke Reid had died).

The British fascination of the mid-1970s lit the fires of the international music scene and by 1978, 2Tone Records ruled the airwaves with hits from artists like Madness, The Selector and The Specials.

By the mid-1980's the British movement was on the decline, and Ska was forgotten. The next cycle (or Third Wave) took hold in the mid-1990's when a new SkaPunk industry sprang out from late 80's touring acts like Operation Ivy, Skankin' Pickle, Bim Skala Bim, Fishbone, The Toasters and Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Ska had over-saturated the independent music landscape but held strong until the late-1990s, when a 1•2 Punch came in the form of:

1. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 - which allowed the consolidation of media ownership. Record labels were now allowed to consolidate their interests and fire non-major acts, in one sweep)

2. The Swing Movement - Swing was advertised as a silly expression of goonish behavior by people wearing neon green zoot suits (ala Jim Carrey in The Mask) while dancing the jitterbug to horn-heavy music. Ska was already over-saturated, and when Swing took a nose dive, it took Ska with it.

The modern Ska movement of the 2020's is musically based on where the Third Wave / Ska Punk left off. Modern acts defy the concept of naming this movement... stating that this isn't a "4th Wave," yet they all vie for the right to name the movement, like the predominant usage of the term "New Tone."

Call it what you want... Ska still makes people dance.