Mento
Encyclopedia : M : ME : MEN : Mento
- This article is about the Jamaican musical style. For the D.C. comics character, see Mento (comics). For the candy, see Mentos.
| Music of Jamaica | |
|---|---|
| Kumina | Nyabinghi |
| Mento | Ska |
| Rocksteady | Reggae |
| Sound systems | Lovers rock |
| Dub | Dancehall |
| Dub poetry | Toasting |
| Raggamuffin | Roots reggae |
| US | UK |
| Timeline and Samples | |
| Anglophone Caribbean music | |
| Anguilla - Antigua and Barbuda - Bahamas - Barbados - Bermuda - Caymans - Grenada - Jamaica - Montserrat - St. Kitts and Nevis - St. Vincent and the Grenadines - Trinidad and Tobago - Turks and Caicos - Virgin Islands | |
| Other Caribbean | |
| Aruba and the Dutch Antilles - Cuba - Dominica - Dominican Republic - Haiti - Martinique and Guadeloupe - Puerto Rico - St. Lucia | |
Mento is often confused with Calypso, a musical form from Trinidad and Tobago. Although the two share many similarities, they are separate and distinct musical forms. In part, the differences stem from the differing colonial histories of the two West Indian Islands, as Jamaican Music lacks the Spanish influences found in other Caribbean musical styles.
Mento draws on musical traditions brought over by African slaves. The influence of European music is also strong, as slaves who could play musical instruments were often required to play music for their masters. They subsequently incorporated some elements of these traditions into their own folk music. The lyrics of mento songs often deal with aspects of everyday life in a light-hearted and humorous way. Many comment on poverty, poor housing and other social issues. Thinly-veiled sexual references and innuendo are also common themes. Although the treatment of such subjects in mento is comparatively innocent, their appearance has sometimes been seen as a precursor of the 'slackness' found in modern dancehall.
The golden age of mento was the 1950s, as records pressed by Stanley Motta and others brought the music to a new audience. In the 1960s it was overshadowed by ska and reggae, but it is still played in Jamaica, especially in areas frequented by tourists. It was repopularized by the Jolly Boys in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the release of four recordings on First Warning Records/Rykodisc and a tour that included the United States.
External links
- [Mento Music] - A good site covering many aspects of mento
- [Jamaican Mento] - Article discussing mento and its confusion with calypso
| Reggae | Reggae genres |
|---|
| Mento - Rocksteady - Ska |
| Dub - Dub poetry - Dee jaying or Toasting - Dancehall - Ragga or Raggamuffin - Reggaeton - Roots reggae - Two Tone |
| Other topics |
| Haile Selassie - Jamaica - Marcus Garvey - Rastafari movement - Skinheads |
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