Ska is a music genre of Jamaican origin that originated in the late 1950s. It is a combination of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska features a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the off-beat. It is characterized by a horn section, electric guitar, drums, and sometimes saxophones. Ska has been popularized in many countries around the world, including the United Kingdom, Japan, and the United States.