Drummer Style Scott joined Adrian Sherwood's influential On-U Sound dub label in the late '70s and played on Sherwood's influential releases as the New Age Steppers (with vocalist Bim Sherman, horn player Deadly Headley, melodica player Dr. Pablo, and a large guest lineup). Scott later formed his own band, Dub Syndicate, which soon became --... [+] Read More

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Ominously known as "The Dark Prince of Reggae," Keith Hudson was born into a musical family in Kingston, Jamaica in 1946. His musical education began as Hudson worked as a sort of roadie for Skatalite and Jamaican trombone king Don Drummond. By age 21, Hudson, who had been trained as a dentist, sunk his earnings into his own record label,... [+] Read More

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King Tubby is to this day synonymous with dub. He was a man who had a passion for fiddling with sound equipment, and turned that passion into a new musical genre and a veritable art form. He may have started his career as a repairman, but before he was done, his name was one of the most respected around the world. He worked with virtually every... [+] Read More

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One of the more popular dancehall DJs of the '90s, Mad Cobra was the first reggae artist to top the Billboard rap singles chart. He initially made his name with a series of tough, hard-hitting singles aimed at the hardcore crowd, filling his lyrics with the requisite slackness and gun talk. However, he achieved international crossover success by... [+] Read More

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His poems have given voice to a nation and helped forge an entirely new genre of music, dub/rhythm poetry. Revolutionary, fiery, scathing, and stinging, Mutabaruka's words are as potent on paper as on CD, and so the literary community needed to create a new term just for his works -- meta-dub. Born in Rae Town, Jamaica, on December 12, 1952,... [+] Read More

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Birmingham, England reggae singer/toaster Pato Banton (born Patrick Murray) made his debut on the English Beat's third album, 1982's Special Beat Service, helping out Ranking Roger on the track "Pato and Roger a Go Talk." Five years later, Banton returned with his debut solo release, Never Give In, which featured backing by Birmingham's Studio... [+] Read More

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Formed in London during the late '80s, Renegade Soundwave applied the punk and industrial ethic to both dub and dancefloor electronica, in good company with fellow sound terrorists throughout the decade, from Cabaret Voltaire to Skinny Puppy and Meat Beat Manifesto. The trio of Gary Asquith, Danny Briottet and Carl Bonnie debuted on Rhythm King... [+] Read More

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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 TV repairman father, skills that made him very popular with the mobile DJs and their not-always-functioning sound... [+] Read More

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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 musical talents come together, but in the case of drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare, it really was an... [+] Read More

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Yabby You was born Vivian Jackson in a Kingston ghetto. By the time he was 17, Jackson was so malnourished that he had to be hospitalized. He eventually left with severe arthritis and crippled legs. While he could not work, he had musical talent and taking his cues from divine inspiration that he feels comes from the sounds of nature around him,... [+] Read More

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