When James Brown died recently you guys should've read all the mythology about him creating rap, hip hop, disco and everything else under the sun. His influence was massive, but hip hop is an Americanization of JA's dub music and disco came out of the Afro Latin communities in NYC. Brown had a bigger influence on Fela's afrobeat than hip hop. His music was sampled heavily partly because Americans didn't take to the reggae that Kool Herc played at first.
Jamaican singers from the 1960's always rave and give credit to American R&B singers. However, Cuban music and calypso/mento played a part in the creation of reggae too. I think that the rastas 'saved" Jamaican popular music by bringing in their neo African riddims thus turning it away from rock steady's overt R&b influence. It's a good thing since American R&B is closer to European music riddem wise. American influence tends to de-emphasize complex rhythms(except for jazz) while Caribbean influence on American music brings it to the forward. These borrowings of musical ideas go way back. Caribbean influence in New Orleans played a part in the formation of jazz and Afro Cuban music from the 1930's thru '50's led to bebop and the creation of rock and roll(The Bo Diddley beat). The go go music of Washington DC's Afro-American community took Afrocuban percussion and fused it with jazz and funk. It goes back and forth, though Caribbean musicians do not have mega corporations pushing their recordings. This I think, is the major reason why Caribbean(especially English speaking) music has declined. There's too much emphasis on crossing over and sounding American. The dynamic rhythms are being lost. We've silenced our own ancestral drums.