Jamaric Reggae: Jamaican Speech Forms in Contemporary Ethiopian Reggae Music

In Ethiopia, the presence of an international Rastafarian community, using Jamaican as the vehicular language, has linguistically and, more in general, culturally influenced the local population. This influence is visible in particular for what concerns the musical outputs produced by the Ethiopian youth, not only in Shashamane – the area where the Rastafarian community resides – but also in the rest of the country. Following the author′s previous research on the linguistic acquisition and choice of Jamaican speech forms (JSF) in Shashamane, this article investigates the presence of JSF in the musical scenario of the Ethiopian Reggae. The description of this phenomenon is based on the linguistic analysis of the lyrics of the songs and the live performances of popular contemporary Ethiopian artists and supported by several interviews and audio/video recordings. The large presence of Jamaican words, expressions and formulas in Ethiopian Reggae music suggests the existence of a circular flow, going from Africa to the Caribbean, and then back to Africa again, thus finding new and authentic ways of development and expression.