READ MORE: The History of Jamaican Music Genres (From Ska & Reggae to Dub) King Tubby image via YouTube The Origins of Dub Reggaeĭub reggae’s deep roots can be traced back to 1967, when King Tubby inadvertently invented the sound while cutting a test instrumental version of a reggae track.
In this way, dub reggae taps into the ancient belief in the power of trance-like music forms. Like most of today’s popular dance styles, dub music prioritized rhythm as the focal point, with production that emphasizes trippy effects like reverb, echo and phasing. Using little more than mixing boards, effects processors and their imaginations, late ’60s dub artists like Osborne “King Tubby” Ruddock, Lee “Scratch” Perry and Errol Thompson reinvented the roots reggae sound to create a sub-genre known as dub.
Long before current music icons like Kanye West, Skrillex and Avicii were born, Jamaica’s mad scientists of sound were using technology and experimentation to create studio magic. If you love the modern sounds of hip-hop, house, dubstep, trip-hop, acid jazz, or techno, you can thank the Jamaican music pioneers of dub music (a.k.a.