{"id":7061,"date":"2026-02-09T00:47:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T23:47:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riddim.norm.de\/?p=7061"},"modified":"2026-02-09T16:15:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T15:15:28","slug":"the-many-states-of-reggae-costa-rica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riddim.world\/mystaging01\/the-many-states-of-reggae-costa-rica\/","title":{"rendered":"The Many States of Reggae \u2013 Costa Rica"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Men\u00adta\u00addos (Pho\u00adto: Sebas\u00adt\u00adian Haven\u00addano)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Cos\u00adta Rica, the \u201drich coast\u201d, is a His\u00adpanophone coun\u00adtry between the oceans. In addi\u00adtion to the Pacif\u00adic coast in the west, the Cen\u00adtral Amer\u00adi\u00adcan coun\u00adtry also has over 200 kilo\u00adme\u00adtres of beach\u00ades on the Atlantic side. So it\u2019s no won\u00adder that, in addi\u00adtion to the Caribbean Sea, a good por\u00adtion of cul\u00adtur\u00adal her\u00aditage has also spilled into the coun\u00adtry from the Antilles.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Text: Gardy Stein<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

This arti\u00adcle was first pub\u00adlished in June 2024 (RIDDIM 03\/2024<\/a>).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

In fact, it was Jamaican labour migrants who brought their music, their lan\u00adguage and their eat\u00ading habits with them, lay\u00ading the foun\u00adda\u00adtions for a great love of reg\u00adgae in Cos\u00adta Rica. As ear\u00adly as the 1880s, thou\u00adsands of Jamaicans came to the coun\u00adtry to build the rail\u00adway, and from 1960 onwards they increas\u00ading\u00adly came to work in the ship\u00adyards on the east coast. Always in their lug\u00adgage were records, cas\u00adsettes and lat\u00ader CDs of the music cur\u00adrent\u00adly in vogue in Jamaica<\/a>. And so Peter Tosh<\/a>, Mighty Dia\u00admonds<\/a>, The Glad\u00adi\u00ada\u00adtors<\/a>, Bob Mar\u00adley<\/a>, Steel Pulse<\/a>, Yel\u00adlow\u00adman<\/a> and Buju Ban\u00adton<\/a> blared out of the local loud\u00adspeak\u00aders \u2013 the records were then copied hun\u00addreds of times and trav\u00adelled to the cap\u00adi\u00adtal in the inte\u00adri\u00ador of the coun\u00adtry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201dReg\u00adgae was my com\u00adpan\u00adion from day one, that\u2019s where my vibes come from!\u201d recalls singer Abori\u00adjah. He grew up in Puer\u00adto Viejo, not far from the har\u00adbor town of Puer\u00adto Lim\u00f3n, where the music blared from old tran\u00adsis\u00adtor radios and where old\u00ader ras\u00adtas such as Ras Opi (R.I.P.), Ras Mateo and Ras Kel\u00adly intro\u00adduced him to the work and mes\u00adsage of Max Romeo<\/a> and oth\u00ader roots<\/a> vet\u00ader\u00adans. When asked about his own begin\u00adnings as an artist, he laughs: \u201dI used to sing every\u00adwhere, bare\u00adfoot on the beach, under the coconut palms, to the sound of the waves. When we came back from surf\u00ading, I just start\u00aded impro\u00advis\u00ading for my friends.\u201d As there was no sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant musi\u00adcal infra\u00adstruc\u00adture at the time, it was not until the new mil\u00adlen\u00adni\u00adum that he made his first stage appear\u00adances and stu\u00addio record\u00adings. His first sin\u00adgle \u201dCam\u00adi\u00adnar Fuman\u00addo\u201d was released in 2013 on a dance\u00adhall rid\u00addim and found its way onto DJ Juan\u2019s radio pro\u00adgram \u2013 years lat\u00ader, House of Rid\u00addim released the track in a new guise on their \u201dWorld Wide Rid\u00addim\u201d sam\u00adpler<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Un Rojo (Pho\u00adto: Pablo Cam\u00adbronero)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Jahri\u00adcio (Pho\u00adto: Hanz\u00adfaro)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The Aces Sound Sys\u00adtem
(Pho\u00adto: Marcela Bertozzi)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Artists such as Mar\u00adtin Scott, who mixed rag\u00adga and calyp\u00adso (check out his 1988 album \u201dEl Caliente\u201d!), the band Mekate\u00adlyu, found\u00aded by Gabriel \u201dGabo\u201d D\u00e1vi\u00adla and John\u00adny\u00adman, and the Trin\u00adi\u00adty Roots Band, which has been active since the 90s, were pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly respon\u00adsi\u00adble for estab\u00adlish\u00ading the local scene. Their singer Trin\u00adi\u00adty died in 2018, but his work has had a last\u00ading influ\u00adence on many com\u00adpa\u00adtri\u00adots. Take Jahri\u00adcio, for exam\u00adple, who worked for Trin\u00adi\u00adty Roots for a few years and, as he says, learnt a lot in the process. His musi\u00adcal social\u00adiza\u00adtion is excit\u00ading, as he only found his way to reg\u00adgae via detours: at home, his mum main\u00adly played rock (Led Zep\u00adpelin, Rolling Stones and Queen), and as a teenag\u00ader he lis\u00adtened to punk and ska while skat\u00ading. Even then, he was par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly inter\u00adest\u00aded in the more melod\u00adic tracks, and so he redis\u00adcov\u00adered the Skatal\u00adites<\/a>, Jamaican rock\u00adsteady<\/a> and the ubiq\u00adui\u00adtous reg\u00adgae. He picked up a bass, start\u00aded play\u00ading around the turn of the mil\u00adlen\u00adni\u00adum and became a sought-after instru\u00admen\u00adtal\u00adist. Over the years, he honed his skills and has now been on the road as a singer for almost two decades, has per\u00adformed on stage with greats such as Alborosie<\/a> and is one of the few reg\u00adgae pro\u00adduc\u00aders in the coun\u00adtry. \u201dUn Leo No Se Rinde\u201d<\/a> (A Lion Does\u00adn\u2019t Give Up) is one of his best-known hits; the moti\u00adva\u00adtion that res\u00adonates in the lyrics, the \u201duplift\u00adment\u201d, is extreme\u00adly impor\u00adtant to him and is also expressed on the album \u201dEl Rugi\u00addo\u201d, which was released in 2023.<\/p>

<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Hugo Vil\u00adlalo\u00adbos from the band Men\u00adta\u00addos reports a sim\u00adi\u00adlar start. He and his mates start\u00aded rehears\u00ading in 1998 when they were just 16 or 17 years old \u2013 punk<\/a>, hard\u00adcore and ska<\/a> were the order of the day. How\u00adev\u00ader, the styl\u00adis\u00adtic direc\u00adtion soon changed due to influ\u00adences that were trans\u00adport\u00aded via MTV and live con\u00adcerts: \u201dAt that time, many Latin Amer\u00adi\u00adcan bands came to Cos\u00adta Rica, from Colom\u00adbia, Argenti\u00adna, Mex\u00adi\u00adco\u2026 They made reg\u00adgae, but not like that from Jamaica or Africa. They mixed reg\u00adgae with Latin Amer\u00adi\u00adcan rhythms. We liked that and it influ\u00adenced us a lot, we want\u00aded to do some\u00adthing like that.\u201d No soon\u00ader said than done. What began as an exper\u00adi\u00adment with sec\u00adond-hand gui\u00adtars, a rub\u00adbish micro\u00adphone and bro\u00adken ampli\u00adfiers has grown over the years into a ten-piece group that is now one of the best-known ska-reg\u00adgae fusion rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtives in the coun\u00adtry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clas\u00adsic roots reg\u00adgae is rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00aded by the equal\u00adly suc\u00adcess\u00adful band Un Rojo, named after the red 1,000-col\u00f3n note, which is not quite worth two euros. Their singer, Este\u00adban Chavar\u00adr\u00eda Segu\u00adra aka Jaguar, and bassist Luis Car\u00adlos Cor\u00addo\u00adba Ubal\u00addo, orig\u00adi\u00adnal\u00adly from Colom\u00adbia, met on the Caribbean coast in Puer\u00adto Viejo at the turn of the mil\u00adlen\u00adni\u00adum and quick\u00adly inspired oth\u00ader musi\u00adcians to realise their dream of form\u00ading a band. In 2009, they were joined by singers Kumary Sawyers and Mary, and togeth\u00ader they now per\u00adform at all the major fes\u00adti\u00advals in Cos\u00adta Rica: last year they played at the more main\u00adstream Pic\u00adnic Fes\u00adti\u00adval, they have also played at Fin\u00adca Fest, and in April they were at the Puro Roots Fes\u00adti\u00adval togeth\u00ader with local reg\u00adgae greats such as Earth\u00adstrong, Bet Shalom, Ojo De Buey, Moon\u00adlight Dub and dance\u00adhall leg\u00adend Tole\u00addo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n