you should get a couple of good compilations, you not only get to hear a bunch of different artists, but if the comps are from different producers you'll get to learn a little bit about their sounds as well the producer is sometimes just as important as the artist, compare 'heart of the congos' with any of their other releases for example
I'm a huge Bob Marley fan, but you cannot go wrong with Toots and the Maytals. Bob Marley was and still is a giant on a global scale, but Toots, Jimmy Cliff and Peter Tosh are absolutely great!