As time passed Ska slowed the beat, lost it s brass sound and morphed into Rocksteady , performed with fewer musicians and using more harmony vocals.Not the occasional reggae song recorded by non-reggae artists. Note These are Reggae songs by Reggae artists.It soon became known as Ska .Background Reggae - Around 1960, in the slums of Kingston Jamaica, where the local bands were playing a musical mixture of American R B, Caribbean, and pan-African sounds, drummers began to emphasize the afterbeat, the 2nd and 4th beats 4 4 time in unison with the piano and guitar while the bass played walking quarter notes.100 Greatest Reggae Songs.Rankings are based on initial and lasting popularity as well as influence and impact in Reggae music.Today the term Reggae applies broadly to all the Jamaican born music that contains the original afterbeat rhythm.The musicians called the sound Upside-down R B .Around 1968 the influences of Rastafari and Africanism along with political and social unrest in Jamaica gave birth to Reggae , with a slower, stripped-down, less Pop-like sound often with accents added on the 3rd beat.Criteria This top 200 songs list contains the classic Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae, Dancehall and Dub songs from Jamaica along with newer songs from Reggae artists in the U.