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{{Short description|Jamaican street subculture since 1960s}}
{{Other uses|Rude boy (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Rudebwoy|the song by Kardinal Offishall|Everyday (Rudebwoy)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
[[File:Prince Buster.jpg|thumb|[[Prince Buster]] performing at the Cardiff Festival, Cardiff, UK]]
'''Rude boy'''  is a [[subculture]] that originated from 1960s Jamaican street culture.<ref>[http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120101/ent/ent3.html "The Rude boy in Jamaican music" – The Gleaner – 1 January 2012] Retrieved 28 January 2013</ref> In the late 1970s, there was a revival in England of the terms ''rude boy'' and ''rude girl'', among other variations like ''rudeboy'' and ''rudebwoy'', being used to describe fans of [[Two-tone (music genre) |two-tone]] and [[ska]]. This revival of the subculture and term was partially the result of [[British Jamaican|Jamaican immigration to the UK]] and the [[Windrush generation|so-called "Windrush" generation]]. The use of these terms moved into the more contemporary [[ska punk]] movement as well. In the UK and especially Jamaica, the terms ''rude boy'' and ''rude girl'' are used in a way similar to [[Gangsta rap|gangsta]], [[yardie]], or badman.<ref>[[Neville Staple]] (2009) ''[[Original Rude Boy]]'', [[Aurum Press]]. {{ISBN|978-1-84513-480-8}}</ref>

==Jamaica==
The term ''rude boy'', and the rude boy subculture, arose from the poorer sections of [[Kingston, Jamaica]], and was associated with violent discontented youths.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120101/ent/ent3.html|title=The Rude Boy in Jamaican music|website=jamaica-gleaner.com|date=January 2012}}</ref> Along with [[ska]] and [[rocksteady]] music, many rude boys favored sharp suits, thin ties, and [[Pork pie hat|pork pie]] or [[Trilby]] hats, showing an influence of the fashions of US [[jazz]] musicians and [[soul music]] artists. It is also believed that the rude boy style was influenced by Sean Connery's sharp, tight suits worn when he portrayed James Bond, testified to by several ska songs that made reference to James Bond. Well-known cowboy and gangster/outlaw films from that period were also influential factors in shaping the rude boy image, as scholars like Rob Wilson, Christopher Leigh Connory, and [[Deborah A. Thomas]] have shown.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Rob Wilson|author2=Christopher Leigh Connery|title=The Worlding Project: Doing Cultural Studies in the Era of Globalization|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p5muzG8-MJAC&pg=PA157|year=2007|publisher=North Atlantic Books|isbn=978-1-55643-680-2|page=157}}</ref><ref>Thomas, Deborah A. [https://books.google.com/books?id=76f5UQgNll0C&pg=PA73 Modern blackness: nationalism, globalization, and the politics of culture in Jamaica]</ref> In that time period, unemployed Jamaican youths sometimes found temporary employment from [[Sound system (Jamaican)|sound system]] operators to disrupt competitors' dances (leading to the term ''dancehall crasher'').<ref>{{Cite book|title = 1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music|last = Jackson|first = Andrew Grant|publisher = St. Martin's Press|year = 2015|isbn = 978-1-250-05962-8|location = New York|pages = 228}}</ref> The violence that sometimes occurred at dances and its association with the rude boy lifestyle gave rise to a slew of releases by artists who addressed the rude boys directly with lyrics that either promoted or rejected rude boy violence, for example the 1967 song "[[A Message to You Rudy|Rudy a Message to You]]" by [[Dandy Livingstone]].

Starting in the 1970s, Jamaican [[reggae]] music replaced the ska and rocksteady music associated with the rude boys. In the 1980s, [[dancehall]] became the main Jamaican popular music genre, drawing some parallels with the earlier rude boys in its culture and lyrical content.<ref>{{cite book|author=Klive Walker|title=Dubwise: Reasoning from the Reggae Underground|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0UW6r3mE3gsC&pg=PA247|year=2005|publisher=Insomniac Press|isbn=978-1-897414-60-6|page=247}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Russell A. Potter|title=Spectacular Vernaculars: Hip-Hop and the Politics of Postmodernism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=49GKBNxqWowC&pg=PA39|year=1995|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-2625-8|page=39}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Michael Veal|title=Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rveYGxIUD4oC&pg=PA33|year=2007|publisher=Wesleyan University Press|isbn=978-0-8195-6572-3|page=33}}</ref>

==United Kingdom==
[[File:Rude boys, Notting Hill 1974 (1922313268).jpg|thumb|Rude Boys in [[Notting Hill]], London (1974)]]
In the 1960s, the [[Jamaican diaspora]] introduced rude boy music and fashion to the United Kingdom, which influenced the [[Mod (subculture)|mod]] and [[skinhead]] subcultures.<ref>{{cite book |last=Old Skool Jim |title=Trojan Skinhead Reggae Box Set liner notes |publisher=Trojan Records |location=London |id=TJETD169}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Marshall |first=George |title=Spirit of '69 – A Skinhead Bible |publisher=S.T. Publishing |year=1991 |location=Dunoon, Scotland |isbn=1-898927-10-3}}</ref> In the late 1970s, the term ''rude boy'' and rude boy fashions came back into use after the [[2 Tone (music genre)|2 tone]] band [[the Specials]] (notably with a cover of "[[A Message to You Rudy]]") and their record label [[2 Tone Records]] instigated a brief but influential ska revival.<ref>Panter, Horace. ''Ska'd for Life''. Sidgwick & Jackson, 2007.</ref> In this same spirit, [[the Clash]] contributed "[[Rudie Can't Fail]]" on their 1979 album ''[[London Calling]]'', and [[The Ruts]] their 1980 single "Staring at the Rude Boys". In more recent times in multicultural Britain, the term ''rudeboy'' has become associated with street or urban culture, and is a common greeting.{{cn|date=January 2022}} The term ''rudeboy'' has become associated with music genres such as [[ragga]], [[Oldschool jungle|jungle]], [[drum and bass]], [[UK garage]], and [[Grime music|grime]] – although is still used by many [[ska]] and [[ska punk]] bands, old and new – predominantly in the UK and USA.

==See also==
<!-- Please keep entries in alphabetical order & add a short description [[WP:SEEALSO]] -->
{{portal|Jamaica}}
* [[Jamaican posse]]
* [[Junglist]]
* [[Rhyging]]
* [[Rude Boy USA]]
* [[Skinhead]]
* [[Suedehead (subculture)]]
* [[Yardie]]
<!-- please keep entries in alphabetical order -->

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{mods}}
{{skinhead}}
{{Counterculture of the 1960s}}

[[Category:Ska]]
[[Category:Jamaican youth culture]]
[[Category:Youth culture in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Culture of Jamaica]]
[[Category:1960s neologisms]]
[[Category:Subcultures]]
[[Category:Skinhead]]
[[Category:Counterculture of the 1960s]]
[[Category:Counterculture of the 1970s]]