Reggae Music Earns Protected Status From UNESCO

Reggae music will joins over 300 cultural treasures across the world with protected status from the United Nations.

The music genre, which grew out of Jamaica in the 1960s, has been added to a list of international cultural treasures which the United Nations has deemed worthy of protecting and promoting due to its “intangible cultural heritage.”

Around the the 1960s, Reggae became popular in Britain and the United States – countries where many Jamaican immigrants had moved to after World War II. Thanks to artists like Toots and the Maytals, Peter Tosh and Bob Marley, Reggae is has become an internationally loved and respected musical culture.

The induction was made last Thursday at a UNESCO conference in Mauritius. A Georgian form of wrestling called Chidaoba, and Irish hurling were also included this year. The UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage includes practices such as yoga, flamenco, and more.

A UNESCO rep told CNN in a press release that reggae music “functions as a vehicle of social commentary, as a cathartic experience, and means of praising God remain unchanged, and the music continues to provide a voice for all.”