Before the advent of ska in the early Sixties, Jamaican music was dominated by two other indigenous music styles: mento and Jamaican blues or blues beat.
The calypso-flavoured sound of mento prevailed on the local music scene during the years immediately following WWII and remained the most popular home-grown style until the development of Jamaican R&B or blues beat in the late Fifties. This new sound was at first indiscernible from old-style American R&B, but soon developed a sound of its own that ultimately led to Ska.(Trojan Records)
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