An interesting question: why did a small country like JA have this outsized global cultural impact. Some thoughts: a) JA had most extensive oppressive large slave plantation regime; b) long history of frequent revolts hence the 'rebel' tradition;

c) preservation of Black cultural links via arrivals from Africa pre-post abolition slave trade; d) harsh post-emancipation economic regime leading to severe rural immiseration and rural-urban/external migration; d) early growth of inner city communities around railway terminals

In sum: in JA the confrontation with White colonial oppression took a particularly acute form and led to cultural expressions which resonated universally.

A lot of Marley's music is about a rural youth migrating to Trench Town where he confronts colonial oppression aka 'Babylon'. Same for 'conscious lyrics' in general. Very interesting how many artists are of rural small farmer origin

Btw, It's not widely appreciated that the Slave Trade to JA was much larger than to the US. Mortality was immense before/after Emancipation hence pop differentials today. Also, JA plantations much larger in land and in number of enslaved per plantation. Distinctive

Rastafari likewise, as Barry Chevannes showed, arose very much out of the oppression of the Black rural poor. An affirmation of Black rural peasant values against the 'Babylon system' prevalent in the towns

Many of our outstanding athletes also have this same small farmer rural origin. Or, in the case of Shelly-A, urban working class origin which is NOT the same as what people casually (and insultingly) call 'ghetto'

One should add: the extremely strong JA emphasis on 'ambition' and self-improvement has the same source. In a way, so does the high level of violent crime. Driving ambition bottled up and frustrated but determined to break out by any means necessary