Linval Thompson

From the rock steady of Dandy Livingstone's "Rudy, A Message for You," to the disheveled dub nationalism of Lee "Scratch" Perry's "Jamaican ET," this compilation touches nearly every sub-genre of island music. The funky, one-drop roots reggae of Bob Marley's "40 Years" is a somewhat surprising pick, but most selections are no-brainers (Desmond Dekker's "Israelites"; Ken Boothe's "Everything I Own"), making this perfect for those who have a couple of Marley posters on the dorm room wall, but aren't yet ready to sprout dreads and speak halting patois to befuddled English professors.