Reggae grew from SKA, a genre of music that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s. It was a fusion of traditional mento and calypso music with American jazz and rhythm and blues. The sound was characterized by a walking bass line, guitar and piano riffs, and a strong backbeat. Reggae developed from SKA in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and it is now a popular genre of music around the world.