into the reggae music we know today. They did this by slowing down the ska music’s beat that their band was playing. He quickly became a symbol for the African youth, provoking Africans to start identifying with Jamaicans and its Rasta culture. It was easy for Africans from other countries to relate with Jamaicans because they were both oppressed by white people from a political, financial and social perspective.

Marley’s influence on his native land was seen as a threat to the rivals, leading up to the assassination attempt on Bob Marley in 1976. Magana’s article about bob marley stated, “Marley’s influence was not limited to simply making music for the sake of entertainment”. His dedication with spreading awareness of Rastafari made him a major contributor of the moment, forming his ideas into a global phenomenon. He was most noted for using his music to spread the message of Rastafari. His message about Rastafari focused on the issues of the human condition.

In his song Get up, Stand up, Marley stated, “Most people think Great God will come from the skies, Take away everything And make everybody feel high. But if you know what life is worth, You will look for yours on earth”. The lyrics from the song offers a phenomenal commentary of traditional methods of Western Christianity, which had served as a means of domination and oppression in Jamaica. Since he first started producing reggae music Bob Marley’s main focus was spreading a message, opposing the expectations placed by society. The song was also seen as a wake-up call to those who have missed the prophetic message of reggae music. His words alone illustrate the amount of influence he had on jamaicans, allowing the country to surpass many difficult obstacles it had faced. His songs appealed to those who did not believe in fighting wars or violence. It also appealed to people who were doing drugs that wanted to be spiritually aware through the lyrics found in reggae songs.

By the late 1970’s, the punk movement in Western cultures had also embraced reggaes themes. The punk movement identified with reggae themes of rebellion and disaffection.Western punks wore Ethiopian colors and began to speak the language of Rastafari. Nearly twenty years after Bob Marley finished performing, Westerners created a new reggae genre known as reggae rock.The genre was an infusion between reggae and rock, with the intended purpose of capturing a larger Western audience. Reggae Rock took the uplifting beats from African reggae music while combining it with electric guitars and other rock instruments. The influence reggae rock had on western cultures transformed African reggae music into a more tropical and relaxed style of reggae.

Western reggae artists did widen their lyrical scope to focus more on international problems, yet the packaging and changes in the sound of reggae best accounts for its uprising appeal to white audiences. Western reggae focused more as a new brand of rock and roll instead of being the domestic music of Jamaica’s oppressed population. Nick Pauly’s article about the Evolution of American reggae further invokes the inherent irony between a musical genre rooted in black oppression, being played b