Canadian reggae's past, present and future
From the 1st recording on Canadian soil to the newcomers pushing the genre forward today
As Jamaican immigrants made their way to Canada in the 1960s and '70s, they brought their culture with them, starting radio stations, record labels and concert series.
A fledgling reggae movement began in Toronto and its surrounding suburbs, where a majority of new immigrants settled. In the years since, Jamaican artists including Ziggy Marley and Sean Paul have passed through, recording music and filming music videos — but it's the local artists who put down roots here who have made the scene what it is today. A new award show, the Reggae North Music Awards, was recently announced to platform and provide more recognition to those local heroes.
Below is a brief overview of key moments in Canadian reggae history: the definitive tracks, the big wins for the genre and the hurdles artists are still grappling with today.
Early movers and shakers
The first Canadian reggae record is credited to Jackie Mittoo, a songwriter and keyboardist from Kingston, Jamaica, who immigrated to Toronto in 1971. He had already released a number of records back home, but 1972's Wishbone ushered in a new moment in Canadian music history.
Like Mittoo, many other newcomers continued making music when they emigrated from Jamaica, including Jay Douglas, Nana McLean and Bernie Pitters. When reminiscing about those early days, reggae artist Exco Levi told CBC Music that artists like Douglas and McLean inspired him because "they were making positive music, staying true to the foundation and the precedent that Bob Marley and Peter Tosh and all those guys set."
To meet the demand created by an influx of new talent in the city, independent record labels like Summer Records and King Culture Records popped up throughout the '70s. They were mostly concentrated around the Eglinton West strip in Toronto's northwest end, which emerged as a Jamaican cultural hub, becoming the go-to spot to hear, record and dance to reggae and dancehall. Scenes appeared in Vancouver and Montreal in the 1980s as well, but the high Jamaican immigrant population made Toronto the obvious epicentre.
Gentrification and displacement have hollowed out that hub over the years, and a lack of spaces to hear reggae music and experience the culture has stunted the genre's growth.
"It's so different today, that [infrastructure] doesn't really exist anymore on the ground," said Cheryl Thompson, an associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University researching Black performance and archives. She recalls several Toronto venues that have come and gone, with nothing to replace them: The Bamboo (now a Mountain Equipment Company store), 54 Kensington, and Thymeless, which was in the same building as the United Negro Improvement Association, started by Jamaican revolutionary Marcus Garvey.
When speaking about what keeps the spirit of reggae alive, Thompson said: "[Reggae] is about a community of people, it's the spaces, it's knowing the regulars."
The wider industry takes notice
In 1985, the Canadian Reggae Awards were founded by recording artist Winston Hewitt, and that same year the genre received wider music industry recognition with the introduction of the best reggae/calypso recording at the Juno Awards. (The category name has since been changed to reggae recording of the year.)
The first winners were Liberty Silver and Otis Gayle for "Heaven Must Have Sent You," a rocksteady number with bright horns and soulful vocals. Other early winners include Lillian Allen ("Revolutionary Tea Party" and "Conditions Critical"), Leroy Sibbles ("Mean While"), the Satellites ("Too Late to Turn Back"), Snow ("Informer") and Nana McLean ("Nana McLean").
Messenjah was the first Canadian reggae band to sign to a major label (Warner Music Canada), although it was a short-lived venture, lasting only one album: 1984's Session. The group was founded in Kitchener, but by the mid-'80s had made the move to Toronto. After four nominations, Messenjah won its first and only Juno as independent artists in 1998 for Catch de Vibe.
College radio pushes the culture
By the early 2000s, many of the labels that had sprung up in the '70s had become defunct, but a rise in community radio stations dedicated to reggae helped spread the music. Stations run out of Toronto's three major universities — York, University of Toronto and TMU — became the places to hear new and old reggae tunes. DJ Ron Nelson, often credited with helping hip-hop gain a foothold in Canada, launched his ReggaeMania show in 1993, and it ran until 2014.
After moving to Canada from Spanish Town, Jamaica, in 1994, reggae artist Kirk Diamond recalls tuning into Nelson's show every Friday night: "He was my only medium of hearing reggae music."
Where does reggae fit?
When speaking with artists making reggae music in Canada now, there's a common refrain: the Canadian music industry doesn't know what to do with reggae. After so many decades, it's still an uphill battle for reggae to be seen as a financially viable genre in Canada.
Exco Levi has been nominated for reggae recording of the year 11 times at the Junos since 2012, and won five — making him the most awarded artist since the category's inception. But all those wins don't always create tangible results.
"If I win a Juno Award I give thanks but I know that you have to put in the work with my genre, winning a Juno alone is not going to do [a lot], you have to put in the work," he said.
Kirk Diamond, who has won two Junos and is up for his sixth nomination this year, told CBC Music about the financial reality of many Canadian reggae artists: "Most of us who do music independently, have a nine-to-five as well. For a long time, I only had my job to pay my band. I was working to pay for rehearsal space, and I would do shows for free and pay the band out of pocket."
Exco Levi is conscious of the fact that reggae is not one of the more popular genres in the country, and supposes this is because it is "rebel music." A genre rooted in "awakening the sleeping consciousness of the masses" could be antithetical to a commercial industry framework.
When reggae-fusion singer Ammoye was first meeting with label execs at the start of her career, she realized there was little interest in developing Canadian-based reggae artists. "The gatekeepers would say they don't know reggae, and specifically, they don't know how to market reggae here," she said in an interview.
Ammoye, like Kirk Diamond and Exco Levi, would find her own way independently. Not letting the lack of industry support hinder her, she began playing small showcases to almost empty rooms and grew a fanbase slowly, through word of mouth.
"These obstacles and challenges? I use them as fuel."
Growing popularity outside Canada
Canadian reggae artists have always needed to look outside Canada to make their money, touring internationally in markets with more of an interest in reggae music.
Artists like Kirk Diamond, Exco Levi, Ammoye and the Human Rights are bringing Canadian reggae to global stages, from Brazil to the U.K. to Serbia.
"It used to be unheard of that Canadian reggae bands and acts could tour in different countries representing Canadian reggae, and not music coming out of Jamaica," said Kirk Diamond.
Ammoye recalled one such experience, playing the reggae stage at Serbia's 2011 Exit Festival — one of Europe's biggest festivals, drawing in around 150,000 to 200,000 attendees per year. Her set time was at 5 a.m. and she expected a dead crowd.
"I was thinking, 'Oh my God who's gonna be in this audience?' But, shockingly, they were out there ready. I put my mic in the audience and they were singing the lyrics back at me." She was invited back again in 2013 and 2015.
Passing the baton
There's a new class of artists making moves in Canadian reggae, including Kairo McLean, Jah'mila, King Cruff (signed to Tuff Gong/Universal Music Canada) and Omega Mighty, which Ammoye sees as an encouraging sign.
"With more people pursuing reggae music [here], at some point, I would think that [the industry] will have to acknowledge us," she said.
Toronto-born McLean became the youngest reggae winner in Junos history in 2021, back when he was just 13. The now 15-year-old just nabbed another nomination for his 2023 song, "In the Streets."
Jah'Mila has been keeping the reggae flame alive in Nova Scotia since she moved from Kingston, Jamaica, to Halifax. She won global music recording of the year at last year's East Coast Music Awards, and recently received her first Juno nomination for her debut album, Roots Girl.
There are also new grassroots initiatives that nurture the already existing Canadian reggae culture. The inaugural Reggae North Music Awards were just announced, and will take place in September, with the goal of being more than just a celebration: "It's a platform for education and appreciation. By honouring the contributions of Canadian artists to the global reggae and dancehall landscape, the awards spotlight the cultural impact of these genres," as the press release stated.
Kirk Diamond believes that a focus on mentorship and passing the baton to emerging talent is the way forward. He felt that he had no map to follow when he was entering the industry, and wants better for artists like McLean, whom he has taken under his wing. The two worked together on the 2023 Juno-winning reggae recording of the year, "Reggae Party."
"It would be a disservice to kids like Kairo, someone that has a bright future and knows exactly what he's doing, if instead of focusing on his goals, he has to go and fight our battles again," he said. "Legacy only works if you bring other people with you."
To discover more Canadian reggae, check out the CBC Music Frequencies reggae episode, hosted by Errol Nazareth.
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