My ethnicity is Jamaican and the genre that is associated with it is dancehall music. Similar to reggae music, the instruments that are involved in dancehall music are the drums, bass guitar, drum machine, synthesizer and the electric organ. It originated from Jamaica in the 1970s and it is performed worldwide. Dancehall was influenced by reggae and hip hop. Some artists that perform dancehall music are Buju Banton, Alkaline, Beenie Man and Vybz Kartel. Some well known artists even have dancehall songs like Drake and Rihanna. A unique musical characteristic is that it has a fast rhythm and the instruments involved. 

Dancehall has become popular worldwide due to companies starting to sign these artists and showing them to the mainstream. Similarly, western artists have begun to make songs that fall into the dancehall genre. Songs like “One dance” or “Controlla” by Drake or “Work” by Rihanna. Drake and Rihanna are not dancehall artists but you can hear the dancehall sound in their songs. Dancehall songs are usually heard at parties because they are easy to dance to and you can have a good time. Dancehall has gone through many changes from the early 1980s to now. Popularity has grown and many western artists have been influenced although they may not be from the Carribean.