It has been three years since The Harder They Come lifted reggae from obscurity to culthood and raised hopes that Jimmy Cliff would begin a long reign as an arbiter of hip Caribbean liberalism. At the same time, people noticed Bob Marley, leader and political ideologist of The Wailers, who's managed to gain a level of notoriety that threatens to cast him in the mold of a minor league Dylan.

Thankfully, that kind of media hysteria passes, bolstered no doubt by the sobering reality of light sales. Both Marley and Cliff can now be examined in a more realistic light. In the last three years, Jamaican reggae bands have followed the political vision inspired by Cliff and The Wailers, rejecting "commercialization"—an attempt at Jamaicanization of Black American pop by simply changing the beat. But materialism and commercialism are essential parts of Jamaican culture. Reggae is different not...