What's the difference between ragga and dancehall?

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If any. And is either still the description of choice for current Jamaican music?

― JoB (JoB), Sunday, 16 March 2003 16:06 (twenty-three years ago)

you could say dancehall was more 80s and ragga more 90s and on, but dancehall's been a term in jamaican music since the 60s if not the beginning. Ragga could be fixed to the more gangsta end of jamaican music with fewer melodies and heavier beats, but its broasder than that.

At the end of the day they're just names. It doesn't really matter.

― Ed (dali), Sunday, 16 March 2003 16:20 (twenty-three years ago)

can i start calling you steve then?

― jess (dubplatestyle), Sunday, 16 March 2003 16:58 (twenty-three years ago)

"under me sleng teng" to thread.

ragga is dancehall gone digital -- it's essentially that simple, no?

― scott pl. (scott pl.), Sunday, 16 March 2003 17:09 (twenty-three years ago)

then what's digital dancehall? And bashment? And soca? Hmmm?!

― dog latin (dog latin), Sunday, 16 March 2003 18:33 (twenty-three years ago)

Jamaica is a one trick pony

― Millar (Millar), Sunday, 16 March 2003 19:12 (twenty-three years ago)

ha ha

― jess (dubplatestyle), Sunday, 16 March 2003 19:16 (twenty-three years ago)

Dancehall was a style that emerged out of reggae with producers like Henry "Junjo" Lawes working with artists like Yellowman, Eek-A-Mouse etc and of course Tenor Saw etc. It was rougher, ruder, bouncier, siller and more fun (and sexy/slack) than straight-up reggae and initially scorned by the wider reggae community. The birth of dancehall can be discerned mainly by developments in riddim etc - gets its name from the fact thatit's music to dance to, so reference early riddims like Stalag etc and you'll see what i mean... Ragga, meanwhile, came along with the rise to prominece of the deejay (MC) and the shift from sung lyrics to the toasting (a rasping, shouted form of rapping designed to hype a crowd). You probably know a lot of these terms, but hope this clarifies the matter some...

― Dave Stelfox, Sunday, 16 March 2003 19:25 (twenty-three years ago)

ragga is from the term raggamuffin which is the same as dancehall asd far as i understand. i think the music is the same they call it dancehall originally in jamaca and in the mid late eities or somewhere around it got called raggamuffin more by the heavy following in the uk underground (pirate radio. tho i might be wrong i think its something like that but there is little difference between them if any.

― bobo, Sunday, 16 March 2003 20:07 (twenty-three years ago)

yeah, "dancehall" is used as a catch-all term now, including sung tracks (see artists like Wayne Wonder etc who are not "ragga") and ones that are chatted (Sean Paul, Elephant Man et al who are). however, referring to a post near the start of the thread, the toasting style rose to prominence in the very early 90s, and this term was first used then, so for the sake of ease and not being persnickety, i'd say that dancehall = 80s and ragga = 90s, but as a general term "dancehall" still has currency and is safest to use without making mistakes!

― Dave Stelfox, Sunday, 16 March 2003 20:31 (twenty-three years ago)

dog latin:

soca is a separate music from reggae/dancehall/ragga, though many of the same practices have now been adopted: riddims/toasting, etc

soca is basically digital calypso (though soca is more likely than ragga to feature live instrumentation): soul + calypso = soca

soca, like earlier calypso, is based on folk rhythms - primarily MERENGUE. it's usually a faster music than ragga - a rough difference of current median beats per minute could go: ragga - 100bpm, soca - 130bpm

reggae musics spread from Jamaica
soca strongholds = more like Antigua and Trinidad
Arrow and Burning Flames are examples of early pioneers/champions of soca

― Paul (scifisoul), Sunday, 16 March 2003 21:29 (twenty-three years ago)

totally forgot to mention anything about soca! the above explanation is about as accurate and concise as it gets, so i've nothing to add other than the side issue that a huge amount of soca influences have filtered through to UK Garage over the past few years - and the average tempo even matches... it's fun music and i like it a lot, although i'm something of a dilletante... good starter points are the soca gold compilations - you get a lot for your money... any more tips gratefully received

― Dave Stelfox, Sunday, 16 March 2003 22:10 (twenty-three years ago)

excellent! cheers folks.

So what about bashment then??

It's all so confusing!

Oh and a wee list of reccomended tunes from all styles mentioned wouldn't go amiss either!

― dog latin (dog latin), Sunday, 16 March 2003 22:33 (twenty-three years ago)

Never really seen bashment as a genre to be honest... just bouncy reggae across genres

― Dave Stelfox, Sunday, 16 March 2003 22:39 (twenty-three years ago)

ah okay... so then, what is oral sex?

― dog latin (dog latin), Sunday, 16 March 2003 22:49 (twenty-three years ago)

a subject i don't want to get into with strangers over the internet!

― Dave Stelfox, Sunday, 16 March 2003 23:07 (twenty-three years ago)

four years pass...

i dont really get why theres a ragga ragga ragga compilation for 2007 and a 2007 ragga dancehall anthems compilation either... whats the difference?

― mr x, Saturday, 5 January 2008 12:51 (eighteen years ago)

Dave Stelfox's intitial post upthread -- distinguishing "dancehall" from "ragga" -- was great! I wish I could enjoy either style more, but they leave me cold. They seem so crass compared to roots reggae. Maybe I need to give them another try (I've got that Greensleeves comp from last year, From Dubplate to Download, but haven't warmed to it).

― Daniel, Esq., Saturday, 5 January 2008 12:59 (eighteen years ago)

http://www.theretrobaby.com/store/images/MrT2.gif

― Noodle Vague, Saturday, 5 January 2008 13:15 (eighteen years ago)

i dont really get why theres a ragga ragga ragga compilation for 2007 and a 2007 ragga dancehall anthems compilation either... whats the difference?

taking sides: ragga ragga ragga vs bigest ragga dancehall anthems

― am0n, Saturday, 5 January 2008 18:06 (eighteen years ago)

I really don't know anything about this, but I tend to think of ragga as having more to do with the style of vocals and dancehall as more to do with the style of riddim.

― The Reverend, Saturday, 5 January 2008 18:14 (eighteen years ago)

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