Mapping the History of Ska

Making the Waves: The Evolution of Ska maps the history of ska music from its origins in 1950's Jamaica through its 70's revival in the UK and on to its 'third wave' in the USA.

This EntertainMaps created map provides brief introductions to a number of ska musical artists in Jamaica, the UK and the USA. If you select the markers on the map you can read these introductions and watch a YouTube video of the band or performer.

I guess one of the dangers in making such a map is that you will always be criticized for who you've left off the map. I don't know much about the 'third wave' of ska in the USA but I do know that the Jamaica and UK areas of the map are not exactly exhaustive. The UK section, for example, only includes three ska bands. I've never been a huge fan of ska but even I can think of a number of UK and Jamaica ska bands and artists that seem conspicuous by their absence from the map.


Fans of 70's UK music might also like EntertainMaps' London's Burning map. London's Burning plots the origins of some of London's finest punk bands. It also allows you to listen to a song by each of the mapped bands.

This map used to include Mapbox's glorious Wheatpaste map tiles. The Wheatpaste map style was inspired by the cut & paste, collage style of music flyers & posters, popular with punk and new wave bands. It worked beautifully on a map about Punk music. Unfortunately London's Burning now seems to use a black & white version of Stamen's Watercolor map style.