Stitchie (born Cleve Laing) began his music career in Kingston, Jamaica, after he decided to give up teaching high school in 1987. It was not long before he gained the nickname “Citrus” because of his …

Bob Marley’s second son, Stephen Marley, first appeared on record in 1979, when he was only six years old. With his brother Ziggy, the young Stephen recorded the single “Children Playing in the Streets,” a …

With 16 African album releases to his credit — many of them gold — Nigeria’s Sonny Okosuns is one of the continent’s most enduringly popular performers. Okosuns initially caught the pop music bug via Elvis …

Theirs is the ultimate musical marriage, a partnership that, once formed, re-etched the very landscape of not just Jamaican music, but the entire world’s. Such hyperbole is oftentimes rolled out by publicity machines whenever two …

Emerging during the latter half of the ’90s, the enormously prolific Sizzla was one of the leaders of the conscious dancehall movement. Along with Buju Banton and Capleton, he helped lead dancehall back to the …

The fact that Shinehead split his time growing up between Jamaica and America was reflected in his recordings; the Kent, England-born vocalist (born Edmund Carl Aiken) released several albums between the late ’80s and early …

Overton Brown was only 16 years old when producer/performer Errol “Don” Mais discovered and used the considerable talents of this adolescent dub whiz. Born in Kingston in 1960, the Scientist learned basic electronics from his …

David Scott, better known as Scotty, was an extremely popular singer and DJ in Jamaica. Born in Westmorland, Jamaica, in 1950 (some sources indicate 1951 or 1952), he was raised in Kingston and attended Kingston …

Spanner Banner is the stage name of reggae recording artist and songwriter Joseph Anthony Bonner. One of Violet and Ivanhoe Bonner’s 11 offspring, the Jamaican-born performer is one of four siblings who headed into the …

Dancehall DJ Spragga Benz first rose to prominence in the early ’90s with a series of Jamaican hits that earned him a brief major-label shot with Capitol. Benz was born Carlton Grant in Kingston on …