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The rude boy culture originated in the ghettos of Kingston, where disaffected, unemployed youth started wearing sharp suits and pork-pie hats in an imitation of the upper class. Most rude boys were armed and organised in gangs, and violence was an integral part of rude boy lifestyle.

With growing emigration in the late 1960s, the rude boy culture and its music, ska, spread to England and from there to most other western countries. It has had considerable influence on early skinhead culture.

The name Rudy often appears in ska and punk lyrics as an allusion to the rude boy subculture. One of the more famous of these is the song "Rudie Can't Fail" by The Clash.

Rude Boy (Movie)

Rude Boy is also the name of 1980 movie about a roadie for the punk band The Clash. The movie was named for the subculture.