Burru
An African-Jamaican drumming and dance tradition whose bass, funde and repeater family later entered Rastafari’s Nyahbinghi sound. A deep root, not a reggae genre.
GO DEEPER
Burru, also written Buru in Jamaican sources, survives as a traditional African-Jamaican drumming and dance practice associated particularly with communities in Clarendon and St. Catherine. ACIJ/Jamaica Memory Bank documents ensembles built around bass, funde and repeater drums with scrapers, rattles and other percussion. Its most important reggae connection comes through Rastafari. Count Ossie and other Rasta drummers drew Burru technique into the developing Nyahbinghi ensemble, where the same three-drum family was reshaped around Rastafari gathering and ritual. That makes Burru a meaningful rhythmic ancestor in reggae’s cultural history, while still deserving to be encountered on its own terms.
Where the history is argued
- English-language sources vary between the spellings “Burru” and “Buru.”
- Burru’s historical development is preserved largely through cultural documentation and oral tradition rather than a single dated origin event.
How they stand with the others
Came beforeBass, funde and repeater drums link Burru practice to the later Nyahbinghi ensemble.
Spirit ofCount Ossie is widely associated with carrying Burru drumming into Rastafari musical practice.
Listen
People
Connected
Sources
Last checked 1 September 2026