Religious Conflict in Caribbean Music

This episode of THE HISTORY OF THE CARIBBEAN investigates the high-stakes spiritual warfare played out through the music of Jamaica and Haiti from the nineteen sixties to the present day. We explore how the drum became a weapon of resistance against colonial structures, beginning with the rise of Rastafarian percussion in the gullies of Kingston and the seismic impact of Haile Selassie’s nineteen sixty six visit. The narrative tracks the evolution of the sound of the outcast, where every heartbeat of the Funde and Repeater drums served as a direct challenge to the state and the traditional church, resulting in a systematic attempt by the authorities to smash the instruments and silence the movement.