Official Reggae Sound Clash: King Jammys vs Black Scorpio vs Youthman Promotion vs Black Star ft:
Bruk Back, Yami Bolo, Stitchie, Tenorsaw, Admiral Bailey, Tiger, Yellowman, General Trees, King Kong, Yami Bolo and more.
King Jammy, born Lloyd James in Montego Bay, Jamaica, was the undisputed king of computerized digital reggae music during the '80s, as well as a highly reputable producer of dub and roots reggae throughout his lengthy, monumental career. While he established his credentials during the '70s and early '80s (when he was known as Prince Jammy) through seminal production work for Black Uhuru and Sugar Minott as well as dub albums with genre pioneers King Tubby and Scientist, he singlehandedly changed the face of reggae with his all-electronic production of Wayne Smith's 1985 hit "Under Me Sleng Teng," ushering in the digital dancehall era. Following Tubby's untimely death in 1989, Jammy took the crown, and continued to be one of reggae's most prolific, innovative producers. He worked with dancehall stars such as Beenie Man and Bounty Killer during the '90s and 2000s, while making off-the-wall dub albums, including collaborations with Mad Professor and Dry & Heavy. He remained active into his seventies, working with roots and dancehall artists like Alborosie and U-Roy on 2016's New Sounds of Freedom, and continuing to push the limits of dub with 2017's Waterhouse Dub.
Maurice "Jack Scorpio" Johnson. had started to operate a single turntable and speaker sound system in 1968 and started the Special I sound system in 1972, changing the name to Black Scorpio after the name caused friction in the area in which it was based, with the largely People's National Party-supporting locals suspecting sympathies with the Jamaica Labour Party due to its similarity to that party's slogan. Also known as 'The Horseman Sound' to the close association of Johnson (who owned racehorses) and deejays that worked on the sound system (General Trees and Lord Sassafrass) with horse racing, it rose to become one of the top sounds in Jamaica. Other deejays who worked on the system included Culture Lee, Shukashine, Barry Bak, and Lady G. Black Scorpio expanded into a record label in the early 1980s with a studio on Molynes Road in the Drewsland area of Kingston. Johnson had his first hit as producer in 1982 with "Pink Eye" by DJ Sassafrass, the pair having a bigger hit in 1985 with "Pocomania Jump", and Black Scorpio went on to become one of the top labels of the early era of ragga.
Sugar Minott had dancehall music running through his veins. He was born at 26a Chisholm Avenue and as a youngster he was often found hanging around a busy Kingston dancehall venue located at 82 Chisholm Avenue and late at night when there was a dance in session he would sneak in to hear all the latest sounds. In the late seventies as he was making inroads into the music business at Studio One, firstly with the African Brothers and more successfully as a solo artist, he also was involved with sound systems in the Maxfield Park area of Kingston. These included working on a set called Sound Of Silence, and, more importantly the Black Roots sound system which was owned by several people including Blacka, Jimmy and Sugar himself. Tiring of the lack of financial rewards in the business in 1979 he opted to form, with help from Keith Hartley and James Brown aka Jimmy, his own labels. Black Roots was the name chosen for his own productions and early releases which did really well for him were his own titles “Man Hungry” and “River Jordan” as well as hit tunes from Trevor Hartley and Barry Brown. A second label Youthman Promotion was started almost simultaneously, early hits were deejay tunes from Captain Sinbad and Ranking Joe whose “Youthman Promotion” summed up Sugar’s vision of the future. But things had to be put on hold for a couple of years as Sugar’s personal success took him off around the world and he chose England as his base.
Returning home in 1982 Sugar committed himself to the Youth Promotion initiative, his way of giving back to the community. His headquarters was now located at 1 Robert Crescent, Kingston 5 and it was from here that his efforts went into overdrive. He knew that there were many, many talented youths who never had a chance to make it in the music business. The building of the Youth Promotion sound system allowed the ghetto youths to practice and learn all the skills needed to cut records which could then be released on Sugar’s own labels, thus avoiding the trap of the rip off producers.
❤️??
Uk's Leading Broadcast Station For #reggae & #soundsystem #culture For more Quality Vibes Subscribe
to our YouTube Channel.
