Ska originated in the late 50's. It was the music that rocksteady and reggae would evolve from. While the roots of ska are based in the Caribbean mento and calypso music, American jazz and RnB also influenced this type of music greatly. Beginning after world war two, radios became more common, American Military broadcasts were more available, and slowly a Jamaican version of this sound evolved. The characterizing element of the music is the guitar or piano marking the offbeat. In addition, it is common for Ska to have jazz styled horn riffs originated by talented players like Roland Alphonso, Don Drummond, Tommy McCook and Rico Rodriguez.

Original Ska was very popular with British youth culture (first Mods and later to some extent Skinheads). Some artists from the first wave of ska that rose to poularity are The Skatalites, The Maytals, Derrick Morgan, Prince Buster and Desmond Dekker. Ska was popular enough to spark a renaissance of ska music (referred to as the second wave or 2 Tone Era) in the late 70's and early 80's in UK. This movement was characterized by a feeling of racial unity as evident in the dominant black and white checkered pattern popular with it's followers. SOme groups that enjoyed popularit during this era were Madness, the Specials, The English Beat, and Bad Manners. A third wave came in the 90's, this time being primarely based in the United States. While this "scene" tends to be largely reflective of the two-tone era, it has produced a great deal of traditional styled artists as well as those who take elements of Ska and blend it with a contemporary sound. Examples of bands that are present in the "third wave" are Hepcat, The Slackers, Chris Murray, and Westbound Train to name a few.

The creation of ska is commonly explained as the result of jamaican producers such as Prince Buster, Coxsone and Duke Reid producing their own take on the American rhythm and blues to supply the demand that was in Jamaica after the the RnB style started fading out in the Unites States.