Skinhead's music

Originally, the skinhead subculture was associated with ska and reggae music, such as that of Desmond Dekker, Laurel Aitken, Symarip and Joe the Boss. The link between skinheads and reggae led to a sub-genre known as skinhead reggae. Other music genres popular with early skinheads were Motown, Northern Soul, Rocksteady,and mod RnB. Suedeheads of the 1970s were also known to listen to British glam rock bands like The Sweet and Mott the Hoople.[8]

The most popular music style for late-1970s skinheads was 2 Tone (also called Two Tone), named after a Coventry, England record label featuring bands such as The Specials, Madness, and The Selecter. Two Tone was the musical integration of ska, rocksteady and punk rock.[16] The label scored many top 20 hits, and eventually a number one. During this time (1979-1981), skinheads were a common sight on the UK high streets.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Oi! music became accepted by many skinheads and punks. Oi! continues to be one of the most popular genres among skinheads. Musically, it combines elements of punk rock, football chants, pub rock and British glam rock.[17] Some forefathers of Oi! were Sham 69, Cock Sparrer and Menace. The term Oi! as a musical genre is said to come from the band Cockney Rejects and journalist Garry Bushell, who championed the genre in Sounds magazine. Well-known Oi! bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s include Angelic Upstarts, Blitz, The Business, Skrewdriver, Last Resort, Combat 84 and the 4-Skins.[18] Not exclusively a skinhead genre, many Oi! bands included both skins, punks and people who fit into neither category (sometimes called herberts).

White power skinheads developed a separate musical culture known as Rock Against Communism (RAC), which features bands such as Skrewdriver, Brutal Attack and Bound for Glory. It started out musically similar to Oi! and punk rock, and has adopted some elements from heavy metal and rock music.

U.S. Oi! began in the 1980s with bands such as The Press, Iron Cross (whose lead singer's father was a refugee from Nazi Germany), The Bruisers (their former singer now in Dropkick Murphys), and Anti-Heros (who sued the makers of American History X for wrongful use of their logo).[19][20][21] American skinheads also welcomed hardcore punk into the skinhead subculture, with bands like Warzone, Agnostic Front, and Cro-mags. Contemporary American Oi! bands usually mix early American hardcore and 1970s UK streetpunk to arrive at a style all their own