New Zealand reggae

New Zealand reggae is the New Zealand (Aotearoa) variation of the musical genre reggae. It is a large and well established part of New Zealand music, and includes some of the country's most successful and highly acclaimed bands.

Reggae in New Zealand the 1970s and 1980s included Herbs, Dread, Beat and Blood, Unity Pacific and the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The 1979 Bob Marley concert at Western Springs Stadium is credited with having a huge influence of the growth of reggae in the country and inspiring many prominent reggae artists. The growth of the Rastafarian religion, particularly among Māori, was also a factor in the growth of the genre, and the high rates of use of marijuana among New Zealanders is likely to have had an influence. Reggae topped the charts in New Zealand in the early 1980s when Toots and the Maytals, the first artist to use the term “reggae” in song, went platinum with their song “Beautiful Woman”.

The reggae scene is centred on the Waikato and the capital Wellington, with capital music having a more dub and jazz influenced sound. Most New Zealand reggae bands incorporate different stylistic influences, and the result is a unique combination of sounds.

The scene is not without its detractors and is referred to derisively as "BBQ reggae". The inference being that the music functions only as a boring, unchallenging backdrop for having a BBQ in the backyard. Sometimes this criticism is levelled at New Zealand reggae in particular, in contrast to other strains of reggae music.

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