Reggae

Reggae developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.
It grew out of earlier Jamaican styles: ska (fast, with off-beat guitar and horns, early 1960s) and rocksteady (slower, mid-1960s), which were influenced by American rhythm and blues and by Jamaican folk music.
The most famous reggae musician is Bob Marley (1945 to 1981), with his band the Wailers.
Reggae lyrics often deal with social issues, such as poverty, injustice and peace, as well as love.

Off-beat chords: the guitar or keyboard plays short chords off the beat, on beats 2 and 4 of a 4/4 bar. This is often called the skank.
Bass: deep, prominent, repeating bass riffs that carry much of the music.
Drums: in the one drop rhythm, the bass drum and a snare rim-shot fall on beat 3, leaving beat 1 empty.
A relaxed, medium-slow tempo, syncopation, riffs and call and response between the lead and backing vocals.

Dub is a style of remixing reggae tracks, made by Jamaican producers such as King Tubby and Lee 'Scratch' Perry. Instruments are dropped in and out, and lots of echo (delay) and reverb are added.
Jamaican music came to Britain with Caribbean migrants after the Second World War. UK reggae bands include Steel Pulse and UB40, both from Birmingham.
Jamaican sound system culture (DJs playing records through huge stacks of speakers) and dub helped shape later UK styles such as jungle and drum and bass.