Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Jamaican |
JamaicanAdjective1. Of or relating to Jamaica (the island or the country) or to its inhabitants; "Jamaican rum"; "the Jamaican Prime Minister". Noun1. A native or inhabitant of Jamaica. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
| Domain | Definition |
Geography | Inhabitant of Jamaica. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Jamaica is an island in the Caribbean. It gained full independence within the British Commonwealth in 1962.
- Alternate uses: see Jamaica (disambiguation)
Jamaica
(In Detail) National motto: Out of Many One People Official language English Capital Kingston Queen Elizabeth II Governor General Howard Cooke Prime Minister Percival James Patterson Area
- Total
- % waterRanked 159st
10,991 km²
1.5Population
- Total
- DensityRanked 135th
2,695,867 (July 2003)
245/km²Independence
- DateFrom the UK
August 6, 1962Currency Jamaican dollar (JMD) Time zone UTC -5 National anthem Jamaica, Land We Love Internet TLD .JM Calling Code 1-876 History
Main article: History of JamaicaThe name of the country derives from the name Xamayca, meaning land of wood and water, given to it by the original Arawak people from South America, who first settled there around 1,000AD.[1]
Jamaica was first claimed for Spain after Christopher Columbus discovered it in 1494. Columbus used it as his family's private estate until in 1670 the British seized of the island.
Under the first 200 years of British rule Jamaica became the world's largest sugar exporting nation, which was achieved through the massive use of imported African slave labor.
Britain's over-zealousness in using slavery soon backfired, and by the start of the 19th century, blacks outnumbered whites to a rate of almost 20 to one. A series of revolts followed, and in 1838 slavery was formally abolished.
Over the years Jamaica slowely gained independence from Britain, and in 1958 Jamaica became a province in an independent nation called the Federation of the West Indies. Jamaica separated from the federation in1962 and is now a completely sovereign nation.
Deteriorating economic conditions during the 1970s led to recurrent violence and a dropoff in tourism.
Politics
Main article: Politics of JamaicaJamaica is a constitutional monarchy, the head of state being the monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. The monarch's representative in Jamaica is the Governor-General, who fills the role of approving bills, and other state functions. For the most part, the monarch (through her representative, the Governor-General) is a figurehead, and what little real power she has is reserved for times of crisis. Republican sentiment has grown in Jamaica in recent years, and the monarchy is likely to be abolished.
The Jamaican Parliament is divided into two parts, the House of Representatives and the Senate. House members are directly elected, and the leader of the majority party in the house becomes the Prime Minister. The Senate is appointed by the Prime Minister, and the parliamentary Opposition leader.
Jamaica operates under a two party system, with the People's National Party and Jamaican Labour Party often switching power.
Economy
Main article: Economy of JamaicaJamaica's economy is heavily based on bauxite exports and tourism.
Serious problems include: high interest rates; increased foreign competition; the weak financial condition of business in general resulting in receiverships or closures and downsizings of companies; the shift in investment portfolios to non-productive, short-term high yield instruments; a pressured, sometimes sliding, exchange rate; a widening merchandise trade deficit; and a growing internal debt for government bailouts to various ailing sectors of the economy, particularly the financial sector.
Depressed economic conditions in 1999 led to increased civil unrest, including a mounting crime rate.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of JamaicaJamaica is almost entirely black, with the majority of the population being descendants of African-imported slaves.
There is a significant minority of Asian and Indian immigrants, as well as many people of mixed racial background.
Whites compose a tiny minority, less than 1% of the population. However, they have historically played a large role in the nation's political and economic development.
See also: Jamaican English
Culture
Though a small nation, Jamaica is rich in culture, and has a strong global presence.
The musical genres reggae and ska originated in Jamaica. Bob Marley, perhaps the best known reggae musician, was born in Jamaica, and is very respected.
The Rastafarian faith also originated in Jamaica, and is responsible for many well-known Jamaican cultural exports such as dreadlocks and red-yellow-and-green clothing.
See also:
- Bob Marley
- Marcus Garvey
- Music of Jamaica
Miscellaneous topics
- Geography of Jamaica
- Communications in Jamaica
- Transportation in Jamaica
- Military of Jamaica
- Foreign relations of Jamaica
- Technology in Jamaica
External links and references
- CIA World Factbook [1] 2000 and the U.S. Department of State website. Slightly edited and Wikified.
- Jamaica national symbols
Countries of the world | North America
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Jamaica."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Jamaican music is one of the few Third World nations whose music has achieved long-standing international acclaim across the globe. In the case of Jamaica, the popularity of reggae and dub has made the tiny Caribbean island one of the musical centers of the world.
Early history
Originally inhabited by the Arawaks, Jamaica was colonized first by the Spanish and then after the Treaty of Madrid in 1670, by the British. Many of the slaves that had been brought to the island by the Spaniards were ordered to resist the conquering troops of Great Britain while their masters fled. These people formed their own, mostly autonomous communities in the rural interior of Jamaica and became known as the Maroons. These poor villages became isolated from the rest of the island, and were eventually the birthplace of Rastafarianism, a religion which soon came to the rest of the island and abroad.
British plantations soon covered the island until 1838, when slavery was abolished. The practice continued, however, in the guise of indentured servitude. The modern Bongo Nation, for example, has its roots in Angolans imported as indentured servants instead of slaves, a distinction that meant little in practice. The Bongo Nation remains a culturally distinct part of Jamaican society, and is known for Kumina, which refers to both a religion and a form of music.
The modern intertwining of Jamaican religion and music can be traced back to the 1860s, when the Pocomania and Revival Zion churches drew on African and Christian traditions and incorporated music into almost every facet of worship. Later, this trend spread into Hinduism among the numerous Indians (coolies), resulting in baccra music, and, most famously, Rastafarianism transforming the Jamaican music scene in the 1960s, incorporating religious nyabhingi drumming from grounation worship ceremonies into popular music.
20th century
Junkanoo (a type of folk music now more closely associated with The Bahamas), the quadrille (a European dance) and work songs were the primary forms of Jamaican music at the beginning of the 20th century. They were soon synthesized, however, into mento music, which spread across the island and became the source for the first recordings of Jamaican music.
1950s: Mento, sound systems and Island Records
Mento was recorded in the 1950s due to the efforts of Stanley Motta, who noted the similiarities between Jamaican folk and Trinidadian calypso, which was then finding international audiences. While mento never found a large international audience as calypso had, some of these recordings, such as by Count Lasher, Lord Composer and George Moxey, are now widely-respected legends of Jamaican music. Though it has largely been supplanted by successors like dub, mento is still being made by traditionalist performers like the Jolly Boys.
By the mid-1950s, Jamaica had switched from a rural society to an urban one. The new city dwellers in Kingston and Richmond, for example, were exposed to American R&B, doo wop and rock and roll. Parties began occurring around mobile sound systems, which played the top American hits; some of the major figures of the Jamaican music scene arose during this period, including Duke Reid and Sir Coxsone. In 1958, the first local R&B bands (most influentially Joe Higgs and Roy Wilson) began recording for domestic audiences. Chris Blackwell's Island Records became the biggest label on the island by the 1960s, when a UK affiliate opened that came to introduce Jamaican music to the UK and, by extension, global pop markets. Blackwell's stable of artists included the first major hit, from 1964, "My Boy Lollipop" by Millie Small.
1960s: The ska era
By 1964, a distinctive Jamaican music had sprung up based around the sound systems - ska. Ska was fast, easily danceable and very influenced by American rock. Perhaps the greatest exponents of the original wave of ska were The Skatalites, whose career went on to span decades and incorporate much of the history of Jamaican music. Poor ska fans, or rude boys, were hard-edged, violent and misogynist thugs who brought controversy to the ska scene, and scorn from the newly-independent island's almost entirely white middle- and upper-class, as well as attention from national politicians, who promised protection, gifts of weapons or other incentives to harness the massive voting power of the rudeboys. At first primarily instrumental, ska's rhythms generally didn't lend well to vocal stylings, though many of the most popular artists, including The Maytals, The Wailers and Jimmy Cliff, had strong vocal components.
Along with the meteoric rise of ska came DJs like Sir Lord Comic, King Stitt and pioneer Count Matchuki, who began talking over the rhythms of popular songs at sound systems. This development set the stage for dub's evolution later in the decade.
Rastafarianism, rocksteady and dub
Ska's popularity grew steadily in Jamaica, alongside Rastafarianism, which spread rapidly in urban areas and among the often politically radical music scene. The lyrics of ska songs began to focus on Rastafarian themes; slower beats and chants entered the music from religious Rastafarian music, and ska soon evolved into rocksteady.
Rocksteady was the music of Jamaica's rude boys by the mid-1960s, when The Wailers and The Clarendonians dominated the charts, taking over from pioneers like Alton Ellis (who is often said to have invented rocksteady. Desmond Dekker's "007" brought international attention to the new urban beat. The music began further emphasizing the bass line, as opposed to ska's strong horn section, and the rhythm guitar began playing off-beat. Session musicians like Supersonics, Soul Vendors, Jets and, most influentially, Jackie Mittoo (of the Skatalites) became legends during this period.
In the late 1960s, performers like King Tubby began stripping the vocals away from tracks played at sound system parties. With the bare beats playing, DJs began toasting, or delivering humorous and often obscene jabs at fellow DJs and local celebrities. Over time, toasting became a more and more complex activity, and was as big a draw as the dance beats played behind it. The sound systems had evolved into dub. In the early 1970s, dub musicians like DJ Kool Herc took the practice of toasting New York, where it became the foundation for hip hop music.
1970s: Dub and reggae
By the early 1970s, rocksteady had become reggae music (the style made at the time is now known as roots reggae) due to the influence of funk and the traditional shuffle of mento. This quickly became one of the most popular forms of music in the world, led by Bob Marley & the Wailers. Marley himself (and to a lesser degree, Peter Tosh and others) was viewed by many, especially elsewhere in the Caribbean and throughout Africa, and among Native Americans and Australian Aborigines, as a messianic figure. His lyrical focus on love, redemption and natural beauty captivated audiences, and he soon gained headlines for negotiating truces between rival gangs and, later, two violently warring factions in Jamaican politics. Reggae music was intricately tied to the exploding Rastafarian religion, and its principles of pacifism and pan-Africanism. Aside from Marley and the Wailers, musicians like Gregory Isaacs, John Holt and Burning Spear solidified the sound of reggae.
In 1973, the major elements of dub music were in place. Most influentially invented by King Tubby, dub combined toasting (rhythmic delivery of rhymed, alliterative and assonant lyrics) with ska, R&B or funk percussion breaks. Producers like King Tubby became famous from releasing dub records, but the DJs soon became even bigger stars, beginning with U-Roy. His successor as pop king of Jamaica, Big Youth, invented a new style of pop dub, eventually adding Rasta chanting songs. Big Youth and similarly styled performers dominated Jamaican pop music until the end of the decade, when dancehall stars like Ranking Joe, Lone Ranger and General Echo brought a return to U-Roy's style.
Other forms that arose during the period include:
In the later part of the 1970s, Brit Louisa Marks had a hit with "Caught You in a Lie" (1975 in music), beginning a trend of British performers making romantic, ballad-oriented reggae called lovers rock. Reggae and ska soon became major influences on various American and British punk bands of the 1980s. British bands like The Specials and Madness were popular fusion groups (two tone), while American punk ska bands like No Doubt, Mighty, Mighty Bosstones and Sublime became popular in the mid-1990s, drawing on 80s pioneers like Operation Ivy. Other American and British musicians, playing various kinds of electronic music, frequently used reggae-oriented beats. Dub, techno and electronica remained closely intertwined throughout the 1990s.
- Linton Kwesi Johnon's dub poetry
- Sly & Robbie's rockers reggae, which drew on Augustus Pablo's melodica playing, became popular with a stable of artists including The Mighty Diamonds and The Gladiators.
- Joe Gibb's mellower rockers reggae, including Culture and Dennis Brown
- Burning Spear's distinctive style made him one of the biggest stars, and some of his albums continue to rank as the most influential in history (Marcus Garvey, Man in the Hills)
- Harmonic, spiritually oriented Rastas like The Abyssinians, Black Uhuru and Third World
1980s: Dancehall and ragga
During the 1980s, the most popular musics in Jamaica were dancehall, a form of dub characterized by complex rhythms and rhymes, and ragga, characterized by the use of electronic beats in reggae songs. Ragga is usually said to have been invented with "Under Mi Sleng Teng" by Wayne Smith (1985 in music). Ragga went on to barely edge out dancehall as the dominant form of Jamaican music in the 1980s, with Chaka Demus and Shabba Ranks proving themselves especially long-lasting and influential, and helped inspire an updated version of the rudeboy culture called raggamuffin. Dancehall was often very violent in lyrical content, and several rival performers made headlines with their feuds across Jamaica (most notably Beenie Man vs Bounty Killer), and is usually traced back to pioneering recordings from the late 70s by Barrington Levy with Roots Radics backing and Junjo Lawes as producer. Yellowman, Ini Kamoze, Charlie Chaplin and General Echo followed, along with producers like Sugar Minott.
The 1980s saw a rise in reggae music from outside of Jamaica, most importantly including Africa, where Sonny Okusuns (Nigeria) John Chibadura (Zimbabwe), Lucky Dube (South Africa) and Alpha Blondy (Ivory Coast) became stars.
1990s
In the mid-1990s, other forms of dancehall were popular, and many of the most violent performers of the previous decade had converted to Rastafarianism or otherwise changed their lyrical contents. Artists like Buju Banton (Till Shiloh) also saw significant crossover success in foreign markets, while Beenie Man, Bounty Killer and others developed a sizable American following due to their frequent guesting on albums by gangsta rappers like Wu-Tang Clan and Jay-Z. Some ragga musicians, including Beenie Man, Shabba Ranks and Capleton, publicly converted to a new style of conscious music-making. Other trends included the minimalist digital tracks which began with Dave Kelly's "Pepper Seed" in 1995, alongside the return of love balladeers like Beres Hammond.
References
- Mthembu-Salter, Gregory and Peter Dalton. "The Loudest Island in the World". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 430-456. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
- Mthembu-Salter, Gregory and Peter Dalton. "Lovers and Poets -- Babylon Sounds". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 457-462. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Music of Jamaica."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
| JANAL | English | Jamaican Movement for the Advancement of Literacy | Education |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Crosswords: Jamaican |
| English words defined with "Jamaican": Bob Marley, button fern ♦ genus Muntingia ♦ Marley, Muntingia ♦ Robert Nesta Marley ♦ Tectaria cicutaria ♦ yardie. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Jamaican" is also a word in the following language with the English translation in parentheses. Swedish (jamaican). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Lyrics | I think Jamaican in the moonlight (American Dream; performing artist: The Dirt Band) Just think Jamaican in the moonlight (American Dream; performing artist: The Dirt Band) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
| ||
Periodicals |
| ||
Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
| ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Jamaican women selling their meagre produce of vegetables in the Mandeville market. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | The Jesse H. Freeman, at Long Wharf, Boston, was Captain Lorenzo Baker's first steam-powered ship. He first brought Jamaican bananas to the United States in June, 1870. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |
| "Jamaican Band" by Igor Beres Commentary: "Jamaican musicians playing for the fist full of $ :)." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Play | Caption | Play | Caption |
 | A medium groove with Jamaican pop influences. | | A melodic and syncopated rhythmic feel quite typical of a Jamaican style. |
| Jamaican rhythms incorporated with a double-time synthesized melody. | ||
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Jamaican Proverb | No call alligator long mouth till you pass him. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Children | Antigua and Barbuda | Newspaper and POWA reports indicated that fines for those arrested were extremely low, and that all arrested offenders, except for a Jamaican citizen, were released on bail. (references) |
Economic History | Jamaica | Historically, Jamaican emigration has been heavy. (references) |
Jamaica | Brain drain is a major concern for the future of Jamaican labor. (references) | |
Political Economy | JAMAICA | Jamaican companies have also successfully taken IPR infringers to court. (references) |
JAMAICA | Jamaican law requires all factories to be registered, inspected, and approved by the Ministry of Labor. (references) | |
JAMAICA | About 15 percent of the work force is unionized, and unions have historically played an important economic and political role in Jamaican affairs. (references) | |
Trade | Jamaica | A list of applicable standards can be purchased from the Jamaican Bureau of Standards. (references) |
Jamaica | Foreign investors can utilize the loan facilities of banks for investments in Jamaica on the same basis and terms as Jamaican investors. (references) | |
Jamaica | In 1995, the Jamaican parliament passed an amendment to the Weights and Measures Act aimed at enforcing compliance with the metric system of measurement. (references) | |
Travel | Jamaica | Jamaican dollars and foreign exchange can be traded through the commercial banking system and authorized foreign exchange dealers. (references) |
Jamaica | Some of the most popular Jamaican dishes are: rice and beans; ackee and salt fish; patties (meat-filled pastries); jerk chicken; curried goat; and mackerel rundown. (references) | |
Jamaica | On first meeting, a friendly "Good......Morning/Afternoon /Evening", will bring more response and respect than a casual "Hi." Generally, Jamaican business acquaintances, after a courteous and friendly first greeting, will respond quickly to informality. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Jamaican" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 81.54% of the time. "Jamaican" is used about 195 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 81.54% | 159 | 24,860 |
| Noun (singular) | 15.38% | 30 | 63,341 |
| Noun (proper) | 3.08% | 6 | 143,867 |
| Total | 100.00% | 195 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "Jamaican": jamaican capital ♦ jamaican cherry ♦ JAMAICAN DOGWOOD ♦ jamaican dollar ♦ jamaican rum. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "Jamaican": Jamaican-accented, jamaican-born, jamaican-canadian, jamaican-derived. | |
Ending with "Jamaican": non-jamaican. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
jamaican recipe | 321 | jamaican resort | 57 |
jamaican | 231 | jamaican vacation | 53 |
jamaican flag | 210 | jamaican wedding | 52 |
jamaican gleaner | 188 | jamaican model | 48 |
jamaican food | 181 | jamaican currency | 44 |
jamaican girl | 166 | clothing jamaican | 43 |
jamaican porn | 112 | jamaican site web | 42 |
jamaican news | 103 | jamaican art | 41 |
jamaican music | 97 | jamaican sex | 40 |
jamaican history | 94 | chat jamaican rooms | 40 |
jamaican culture | 82 | dance jamaican | 38 |
jamaican blue mountain coffee | 70 | jamaican picture | 38 |
jamaican pussy | 68 | beef jamaican patty | 34 |
jamaican newspaper | 65 | clothes jamaican | 34 |
jamaican consulate | 64 | jamaican rum | 34 |
jamaican language | 63 | cruise jamaican | 34 |
jamaican woman | 63 | jamaican slang | 32 |
jamaican joke | 60 | dictionary jamaican | 32 |
jamaican observer | 60 | jamaican beach | 32 |
embassy jamaican | 59 | jamaican villa | 30 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "Jamaican"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Bulgarian | ямайски, жител на ямайка. (various references) | |
Chinese | 牙买加 (Jamaica). (various references) | |
Czech | jamajský, jamajèan. (various references) | |
Danish | jamaicaner. (various references) | |
Dutch | Jamaicaanse, Jamaicaan. (various references) | |
Finnish | jamaikalainen. (various references) | |
French | Jamaïquain. (various references) | |
German | jamaikaner. (various references) | |
Greek | Τζαμαϊκανός. (various references) | |
Italian | giamaicano. (various references) | |
Manx | Jamaicagh. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | amaicanjay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | jamaicano. (various references) | |
Russian | ямайский. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | stanovnik jamajke, s jamajke. (various references) | |
Spanish | jamaicano. (various references) | |
Swedish | jamaikan. (various references) | |
Turkish | jamaika'lı. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | ямайський, мешканець ямайки. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Misspellings | |
"Jamaican" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Jamacia, Jamaicas, Jamaila, Jamoca. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| Words rhyming with "Jamaican" (pronounced 'Ja*mai"can'): AEsthetican, Antelucan, Cancan, Cooncan, Dellacruscan, Flucan, Majorcan, Molluscan, Moroccan, Oscan, Spheniscan, toucan, Vulcan. (additional references) |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-a-a-c-i-j-m-n" | |
-2 letters: caiman, jacana, jicama, maniac. | |
-3 letters: amain, amnia, amnic, anima, mania, manic. | |
-4 letters: amia, amin, cain, main, mana, mica, mina. | |
-5 letters: aim, ain, ama, ami, ana, ani, cam, can, jam, jin, mac, man, nam, nim. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Images: Digital Art 8. Sounds | 9. Quotations: Familiar 10. Quotations: Non-fiction 11. Usage Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Abbreviations 16. Acronyms | 17. Derivations 18. Rhymes 19. Anagrams 20. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
