Pacific reggae is a style of reggae

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

 music found in the Pacific. This style is found in Polynesia

Polynesia

Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...

 (including New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 and Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

), and Melanesia

Melanesia

Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania extending from the western end of the Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji. The region comprises most of the islands immediately north and northeast of Australia...

 (including Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

). Within this genre there are differing styles, for example between the New Zealand reggae

New Zealand reggae

New Zealand reggae is the New Zealand variation of the musical genre reggae. It is a large and well established part of New Zealand music, and includes some of the country's most successful and highly acclaimed bands....

 sound (such as Katchafire

Katchafire

Katchafire is a New Zealand roots reggae band from Hamilton, New Zealand.Katchafire formed in 1997 as a Bob Marley tribute band and later began writing and performing their own songs...

), and that found in the Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

The Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands are also sometimes collectively called Oceania, although Oceania is sometimes defined as also including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago....

.

Pacific reggae differs from Jamaican reggae in the use of instruments such as the ukelele, traditional wooden drums, and keyboard synthesizers. Reggae in the Pacific is not typically Rastafarian; in the Pacific Islands, songs are often remakes of traditional songs e.g. Small Axe's remake of Kalipolina. New Zealand reggae has Māori influences.

Notable Pacific reggae groups include Herbs

Herbs (band)

Herbs are a New Zealand reggae vocal group formed in 1979 once described as "New Zealand's most soulful, heartfelt and consistent contemporary musical voice". It has been said their debut EP Whats' Be Happen? "set a standard for Pacific reggae which has arguably never been surpassed".-History:Herbs...

, who originally played a more Jamaican reggae style. They were subsequently encouraged by Bob Marley

Bob Marley

Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...

when he toured New Zealand in 1979, to explore and develop the Pacific reggae sound.