Seggae

Seggae is a fusion genre of sega, the traditional music of the Mascarene Islands, and reggae. It was originally created in Mauritius by the musician Kaya and eventually became popular in the Mascarene Islands. Seggae is one of the most popular music genres in Mauritius.

Origin

It was invented in the mid-1980s by the Mauritian Rastafari singer Joseph Reginald Topize who was commonly known as Kaya, after a song title by Bob Marley. He campaigned for rights of the Mauritian Creole people. Kaya died in prison in 1999. Kaya was the most important and most well-known artist in the genre, and was often dubbed "Bob Marley of Seggae".

A popular Réunionese seggae musician is Baster.

Composition of seggae music

Seggae music, just as reggae music, can be composed of either just a guitar, or if played by a band, its instrumentation can include drums, a rhythm guitar, a solo guitar, a keyboard, a bass, percussions and a singer. Unlike reggae, seggae is played at a 6/8 (common time) tempo, and with 138 to 140bpm, just like sega music. Unlike sega music, the rhythmic guitar is played with an offbeat rhythm and the drum's one drop rhythm is faster than in reggae. Nowadays, seggae artists tend to slow down the bpm to give the music a more heavy and soulful touch.