A musical genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was a precursor to rocksteady and reggae.

Ska combines elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. It is characterised by a walking bass line, a scratchlike tempo, accented guitar or piano rhythms on the offbeat and, in some cases, jazz-like horn riffs.

In the 1960s, ska was the preferred music genre of rude boys (although many ska artists condemned the violent rude boy lifestyle). Ska was also popular with British mods and skinheads, which led artists such as Desmond Dekker and the Pioneers to aim songs at those audiences.

Music historians typically divide the history of ska into three waves indicating a revival in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and another revival in the 1990s, mostly based in the US.

After World War II, Jamaicans purchased radios in increasing numbers and were able to hear rhythm and blues music from Southern US cities such as New Orleans by artists such as Fats Domino and Louis Jordan. The stationing of American military forces during and after the war meant that Jamaicans could listen to military broadcasts of American music and there was a constant influx of records from the US. To meet the demand for that music, entrepreneurs such as Prince Buster, Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd and Duke Reid formed sound systems.

As jump blues and more traditional R&B began to ebb in popularity in the early 1960s, Jamaican artists began recording their own version of the genres. The new sound was initially characterised by a guitar chop on the back beat, with horns and piano later playing the same riff. Drums kept 4/4 time and the bass drum was accented on the second and fourth beats. The upbeat sound can also be found in other Caribbean forms of music, such as mento and calypso.

The first ska recordings were created at facilities such as Studio One and WIRL Records in Kingston, with producers such as Dodd, Reid and Prince Buster. Jamaican musicians such as the Skatalites often recorded instrumental ska versions of popular American and British music, such as Beatles songs, movie theme songs or surf rock instrumentals. Byron Lee and the Dragonaires performed ska with Prince Buster and Peter Tosh at the 1964 New York World's Fair and Prince Buster and Desmond Dekker took ska from Jamaica to the UK in the late 1960s.

As music changed in the US, so did ska. In 1966 and 1967, when American soul became slower and smoother, ska changed its sound accordingly and evolved into rocksteady. The 2 Tone genre, which began in the late 1970s in England, was a fusion of Jamaican ska rhythms and melodies with punk rock's uncompromising lyrics and aggressive guitar chords and often reworking classic ska songs. Compared to 1960s ska, 2 Tone music had faster tempos, fuller instrumentation and a harder edge.