# What is the most influential reggae album in history?

> Certain reggae albums reshaped music far beyond the genre — Catch a Fire brought reggae to the world, Blackboard Jungle Dub influenced hip-hop, Exodus defined the 20th century. Vote for the most influential reggae album ever made.

*By YPB Team · Published April 20, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-the-most-influential-reggae-album-in-history*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Catch a Fire**
   The 1973 Island Records debut that set the international blueprint for how reggae would be packaged, distributed, and marketed to a global audience.
2. **Exodus**
   Time magazine's greatest album of the 20th century and reggae's most impactful artistic achievement in both sound and global cultural message.
3. **The Harder They Come**
   The 1972 soundtrack that first exported reggae to the world, making Jamaican music a global phenomenon and launching Jimmy Cliff internationally.
4. **Legend**
   The 35-million-selling 1984 compilation that introduced more people to reggae than any other album in history, making Bob Marley a global icon.
5. **Marcus Garvey**
   Burning Spear's 1975 foundational album that influenced generations of roots artists worldwide with its spiritual consciousness and hypnotic rhythms.
6. **King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown**
   The 1976 album that codified the dub genre and influenced everything from electronic music to post-punk, ambient, and hip-hop production worldwide.
7. **Two Sevens Clash**
   A 1977 album whose prophetic power literally shut down parts of Jamaica and influenced global punk, post-punk, and conscious music movements.
8. **Blackboard Jungle Dub**
   The Upsetters' 1973 pioneering dub record whose studio manipulation techniques influenced hip-hop, electronic music, and post-punk production globally.
9. **Super Ape**
   Lee Perry's 1976 studio masterwork whose innovative production techniques influenced producers worldwide, from punk to electronic to hip-hop.
10. **Burnin'**
   The 1973 Wailers album that inspired Eric Clapton's hit cover of 'I Shot the Sheriff,' directly bringing reggae to mainstream rock audiences.
11. **Funky Kingston**
   Toots & The Maytals' 1975 album by the artist who first coined the word 'reggae,' giving the entire genre its globally recognized name.
12. **Equal Rights**
   Peter Tosh's uncompromising 1977 political masterpiece that inspired generations of protest music worldwide and proved reggae could directly confront power.

Tags: music, reggae, classics, influential albums