its a really good genre ! a lot of people dont like it (they dont like 2 tone and 3rd wave ska, which was when the jamaicans traveled to england and met with the working class there , which caused a blend of first wave jaimacan ska [similar to reggae, jazz, and the blues] with the punk rock of the british working class) because it does sound very goofy and silly . 2 tone and 3rd wave popularized the punk sound for it, but i also love the original jamaican ska sound its very beautiful to me. as it was formed in england, it was about the relations and social issues that the jamaican immigrants and the working class both dealt with, and it was a call to action really. they were teaming up, standing up together, fighting together, addressing racism and inequality and the upper class and poor working conditions . it was made up of people from many different backgrounds and places and positions in life, but it was rooted against inequality and you can never ever separate the politicism from ska which just makes it such a shame to me how it gets called dumb because thats just glossing over such a rich important history for it . 3rd wave was when it spread to more parts of the world, past just england, and most of the well-known ska-punk bands (streetlight manifesto, the toasters, mighty mighty bosstones, reel big fish, etc) started up around this time and became less political and started being more comedic , which made lots of people think it was stupid and dumb . sad.... im still a fan though . i <3 streetlight manifesto the most its much heavier and more punk than the others but i love rock music also so its good .