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International
Calypso
Caribbean & Latin America:  The Eastern Caribbean Jamaica The Bahamas The Virgin Islands Bermuda Latin America |
Jamaica
Following Jamaica's independence from Britain in 1962, there was a renewal
of local interest in mento as a distinctively Jamaican music, even though
some recordings still referred to it as "calypso." With increased
government support, mento bands have continued to perform up to the present.
During the independence era, however, a new form of popular music emerged
in Jamaica: ska. Ska was a local interpretation of American rhythm and
blues, with influences from mento and other forms of Jamaican traditional
music. During the 1960s, ska evolved into rock-steady and then into reggae.
In the 1970s, reggae replaced calypso as the dominant form of "world
music" from the English-speaking Caribbean.
