Duke Reid was one of the founding fathers of the Jamaican music business, perhaps second in importance only to his chief rival, Clement “Coxsone” Dodd, both as a record producer and entrepreneur. Much like Dodd, …

Born in Barbados in 1953, reggae guitarist Dennis Bovell (sometimes known simply as Blackbeard) was one of the key figures on the London reggae scene of the late ’70s and early ’80s, not only as …

Dave Barker was born David Crooks in Jamaica in 1948. His mother relocated to Britain in 1952, leaving Crooks to be raised in Jamaica by his grandparents and uncles, a difficult situation for the child, …

Reggae superstar Dwight Pinkney, known as “Brother Dee” in many circles, has been making reggae music since he formed the Sharks in 1965. Born in Manchester, Jamaica, he moved to Kingston as a child and …

Barbados native David Kirton is an emerging modern root reggae singer with an exciting CD entitled Stranger on RAS Records; he holds the distinction of being only the second non-Jamaican artist distributed by renowned label. …

A DJ as famous as his gangster namesake, Dillinger was one of the second wave of Jamaican toasters who sprung up in the wake of the success of U-Roy, Big Youth, and Dennis Alcapone. By …

The world’s fastest rapper according to the Guinness Book of World Records, Jamaican-born Daddy Freddy was also one of the first artists to fuse ragga and dancehall with hip-hop, helping establish a style that would …

Dubblestandart transplanted dub from Jamacia to Vienna, where it teamed with the Select Cuts label to release plenty of experimental dub recordings. The collective began in 1990, when it released “Front of Enemies.” Since then, …

Trombone master Don Drummond was among the seminal figures behind the evolution of ska — a founding member of the legendary Skatalites, he was the genre’s most prolific composer, with well over 300 songs to …

Sax player Dean Fraser has been tearing up horn sections on innumerable reggae singles, working with some of Jamaica’s legends, including Bob Marley and the Wailers, since 1978. He is considered one of Jamaica’s finest …