Dancehall is a prominent and influential culture within contemporary Jamaican music. A subgenre of reggae, dancehall emerged in the 1970s, as a parallel to Hip Hop in the United States. However, dancehall isn't as welcome in Jamaica as one would think. Musicians like Bob Marley and Peter Tosh or "roots" reggae artists are considered icons, whose songs were about love and resisting conformity. Dancehall songwriters are often described as lewd, misogynistic, homophobic, hedonistic, and generally lacking substance.

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