Sunshine Reggae 101

Sunshine reggae is a subgenre of reggae music that emphasizes positive messages, a light and easy sound, and a somewhat generic (though pleasant) inter-island vibe. Sunshine reggae is primarily a genre of music that is played for tourists and other travelers who are visiting Jamaica, as well as other Caribbean islands, cruise ships, and island-themed music festivals throughout the world. It is also frequently heard on television commercials and playing as the soundtrack in island-based movies and TV shows.

Your best bet for hearing sunshine reggae is to head on down to Jamaica and stay in a resort hotel. Invariably, there will be at least one band playing each night on the beachfront or in your hotel's outdoor restaurant, doing reggae covers of "Hot, Hot, Hot," "The Banana Boat Song," and other island-y numbers, as well as plenty of classic reggae songs. The band may even include some cross-Caribbean influences and instrumentation, such as steel pan drums or a ska-influenced horn section.

Sunshine reggae is a fairly loosely-defined genre that overlaps with other reggae subgenres, including roots reggae. Most bands who play sunshine reggae exclusively are bands who don't do a lot of touring; they tend to be house bands at various resorts or in tourist-friendly clubs in Jamaica and on neighboring islands. However, plenty of famous reggae artists have recorded songs that could easily qualify as sunshine reggae songs -- the only real qualifications, after all, is that the song be reasonably light-hearted.

Of course it is! Though sunshine reggae may not have the same pathos as, say, Bob Marley's protest songs or the broad folk roots of traditional mento music, it's still real music, generally played by real musicians who are real islanders. Does it sound great? Does it make you feel like dancing? Does it leave you humming tunes for days and days? Does it enhance your enjoyment of your Caribbean vacation? If the answer is yes to any or all of these questions, then it's authentic, and don't let any purists tell you otherwise.

Sunshine reggae and roots reggae, though both fundamentally positive forms of music, are not the same thing. Roots reggae deals with concepts of positive societal change, social progress, religious enlightenment, and politics. Sunshine reggae is decidedly lighter: it tends to deal with topics like good weather, happy vacationing, parties, and so on. Or, to put it more simply, the former is "do good" music and the latter is "feel good" music. Both are equally valid and have their place in the reggae canon, and in the world music canon in general.

The term "sunshine reggae" may have come from the 1982 international hit song of the same name by Danish post-punk band Laid Back. The song has been mistakenly attributed to Bob Marley, as has pretty much every reggae song ever written, but it was not released until after Marley's death and was never recorded by him.

Jimmy Cliff - "Hello Sunshine"
Byron Lee & The Dragonaires - "Hot, Hot, Hot!"
Bob Marley - "Sun Is Shining"

Dancehall
Mento
Reggae
Rocksteady
Roots Reggae
Ska

Learn more: The History of Modern Jamaican Music