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

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 incorporating elements of R&B and hip-hop. Mad Cobra was born Ewart Everton Brown on March 31, 1968, in Kingston; he was raised in the province of St. Mary's, but moved back to the capital city during his teens. He took his stage name from the villains in the G.I. Joe comic book series, and performed with several sound systems while still in school. His uncle, Delroy "Spiderman" Thompson, worked as an engineer at the Tuff Gong studios and produced Mad Cobra's debut single, "Respect Woman," in 1989. The follow-up was a duet with Tricia McKay, "Na Go Work," which brought him to the attention of producers Carl "Banton" Nelson and Captain Sinbad. Ninjaman-style gun talk was the dancehall trend of the day, and Mad Cobra soon built a following with similarly minded singles like "Shoot to Kill," "Merciless Bad Boy," and "Ze Taurus."

Those initial hits landed Mad Cobra a shot with producer Donovan Germain's high-profile Penthouse label, where he teamed with resident engineer/songwriter Dave Kelly. "Yush" and "Gundelero" were enormous hits in 1990, breaking Mad Cobra into the big time; he also scored with a Beres Hammond duet, "Feeling Lonely." His first album, Bad Boy Talk, appeared in 1991 and sold briskly; meanwhile, he continued to record for a variety of top producers over 1991-1992, landing hits like "O.P.P." (for King Jammy), "Tek Him" (Bobby Digital), and "Be Patient" (Sly & Robbie). He soon became a phenomenon in the U.K. as well, topping the country's reggae singles chart five times during the period and working with some of that country's top dancehall producers. Even a storm of controversy over the stridently homophobic lyrics of "Crucifixion" failed to slow his momentum.

Mad Cobra's success earned him a major-label deal with Columbia, which had just watched Shabba Ranks cross over to R&B audiences in America. Cobra's label debut, Hard to Wet, Easy to Dry, aimed for similar territory, especially the lead single, "Flex." A slinkier number built on a version of the Temptations' "Just My Imagination," "Flex" was a major crossover hit in 1992; not only did it top the rap singles chart, it reached the Top Ten on the R&B charts, and nearly did likewise on the pop listings. The follow-up single, "Legacy," flopped, however, and Mad Cobra returned to recording chiefly for the Jamaican market over the next few years. Amid hotly contested rivalries with Ninjaman and Buju Banton, Cobra scored two major hits in 1993 with "Mek Noise" and "Matie Haffi Move." 1994 found him back at King Jammy's studio for the Venom album and a series of hits that included "Fat and Buff," "Length and Bend," and his first foray into culturally conscious material, "Selassie I Rules."

Mad Cobra continued to record steadily over 1995, and the following year signed with Capitol for his second major-label album, Milkman. The salacious "Big Long John" was a minor crossover hit in America, though not on the level of "Flex." The album also featured a good-natured clash cut with Ninjaman, "Sting Night." In the years that followed, Cobra's output slowed down substantially, though he did make some international noise in 1998 with "Guns High," a duet with Mr. Vegas. Several compilations of his Jamaican recordings appeared over the years, often on VP, and he returned in 2001 with Cobra, an album of new material for Artists Only. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide [-] Hide

For Ini Kamoze, the road to success has been arduous and he has undergone many substantial changes musically and physically since he burst onto the music scene in 1983 with his highly successful eponymous debut album for Island. Known as "The Hotstepper," Kamoze advocates change through what he calls "intelligent and constructive militancy"... [+] Read More

For Ini Kamoze, the road to success has been arduous and he has undergone many substantial changes musically and physically since he burst onto the music scene in 1983 with his highly successful eponymous debut album for Island. Known as "The Hotstepper," Kamoze advocates change through what he calls "intelligent and constructive militancy" rather than random acts of violence.

Kamoze made his recording debut in the early '80s with a 12" single "Trouble You a Trouble Me" on Taxi and found immediate success. He then began touring as part of the Taxi Connection International Tour with Yellowman and Half Pint. During this time, Kamoze was 6' tall, reed thin and appeared too frail to contain his powerful stage presence. He followed up his first album success with Pirate, but the recording received mixed reactions and wasn't as successful. Kamoze then retaliated with several hit singles recorded on his Slekta label. One of the biggest hits from this period was "Shocking Out" which was eventually picked up by the RAS label in 1988. In 1985, Kamoze had greater success with Settle with Me, which produced such hits as "C all the Police" and "Taxi with Me." By 1988, Kamoze's successes became intermittent and his career erratic. Kamoze suddenly disappeared from the music scene. He returned with a new, more aggressive image in 1994, signing to Sony and exploded back into the charts with "Here Comes the Hotstepper." The song made its debut on the compilation reggae album Stir It Up from Columbia, and then showed up on the soundtrack of Robert Altman's feature film Pret-A-Porter. Produced by Salaam Remi, it was released as a single in 1995 and spent two weeks at the top of Billboard's Hot Singles Chart, and nearly four months appearing on various other charts. Kamoze made a video for the song and with his beefy, well-muscled physique and long dreadlocks, no longer fit the description of the liner notes on his 1983 debut album that characterized him as a "pencil thin....disentangled....six-foot vegetarian." With the success of his new single, Kamoze was now a gangster and began a series of promotional tours in LA. Kamoze refused to categorize his music and remained open to singing a variety of songs from different sources, but he took a decade long break before surfacing again. When he did, it was with Debut, a 2006 album that featured rerecordings of his early hits. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Born to Jamaican parents in South London, Tippa Irie gained experience as a hard-hitting dancehall toaster on his father's Mobile Reggae Disco Sound system while still in high school. After graduating, he worked on Saxon International, Britain's best sound system. After a series of 12-inch singles on the Greensleeves label, he released his first... [+] Read More

Born to Jamaican parents in South London, Tippa Irie gained experience as a hard-hitting dancehall toaster on his father's Mobile Reggae Disco Sound system while still in high school. After graduating, he worked on Saxon International, Britain's best sound system. After a series of 12-inch singles on the Greensleeves label, he released his first album, Is It Really Happening to Me? Thanks to the single, "Hello Darling," the album launched his career. Mad Professor produced his next album, Rebel on the Roots Corner, for Ras Records. It took him almost four years to follow it up, but Mr. Versatile was highly regarded and kept him visible in the reggae scene. Three years later, the critically-lauded I Miss appeared on Resin Music. He has also performed with Pato Banton at the Reggae Sunsplash Festival in Jamaica. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Cocoa Tea was one of the few early dancehall stars to carve out a consistent, productive career as the genre evolved over the years. His cool-toned, laid-back vocals were perfect for sweet, smooth lovers rock, and gave him a distinct identity amid his more aggressive peers. Still, he was also capable of toughening up his sound on his cultural... [+] Read More

Cocoa Tea was one of the few early dancehall stars to carve out a consistent, productive career as the genre evolved over the years. His cool-toned, laid-back vocals were perfect for sweet, smooth lovers rock, and gave him a distinct identity amid his more aggressive peers. Still, he was also capable of toughening up his sound on his cultural protest material, which was often sharply perceptive. Tea was born Calvin Scott on September 3, 1959, in Rocky Point, a small town in Jamaica's Clarendon parish. He sang in his church and school choirs as a youth, and made his first recordings for producer Willie Francis in 1974 at the mere age of 14; one single, "Searching in the Hills," was released under his given name, but went nowhere. He spent the next few years working as a racehorse jockey, then as a fisherman; during the latter occupation, he began to rediscover his musical ambitions, performing with the traveling sound systems that passed through local dancehalls.

In 1983, he moved to Kingston and adopted the performing name Cocoa Tea, after the Jamaican term for hot chocolate (later alternate spellings would include Coco Tea and Coco T). He soon met top dancehall producer Henry "Junjo" Lawes, and recorded a series of hit singles that included "Rocking Dolly," "I Lost My Sonia," "Informer," and "Can't Stop Cocoa Tea." His first album, Weh Dem a Go Do...Can't Stop Coco Tea, was released in 1985 and compiled many of his previous successes (a slightly different version, Rocking Dolly, was later issued in the U.S.). Lawes moved his operation to New York, and King Jammy became Tea's primary producer just as he was beginning to expand his focus to Rastafarian lyrical themes. The results included two albums, 1986's The Marshall and 1987's Come Again, and hit singles in those two title tracks, "Tune In," and "Settle Down," among others.

In 1989, a supergroup featuring Tea, Shabba Ranks, and Home T recorded together under the auspices of both King Jammy and Gussie Clarke. The resulting album, Holding On, was a major hit in Jamaica, as were the singles "Pirates Anthem" and "Who She Love." Still an extremely viable solo artist, Tea recorded the biggest socially conscious hit of his career to date, "Riker's Island," in 1991, and supported it with an album of the same name. His strident anti-Gulf War commentaries "Oil Ting" and "No Blood for Oil" were banned on radio in Jamaica and the U.K.; the latter was included on a second supergroup album, Another One for the Road, for which Cutty Ranks replaced Shabba. Tea's next major solo hit was the lovers rock tune "Good Life," produced by Philip "Fatis" Burrell. He was able to maintain a steady, solid level of popularity into the late '90s, with hits for Burrell (1996's "Israel King," 1997's King Sporty cover "I'm Not a King") and Bobby "Digital" Dixon (1995's "Holy Mount Zion"), plus a collaboration with Cutty Ranks on the 1997 Bob Marley cover "Waiting in Vain." Much of his mid-'90s material was collected on Holy Mount Zion, which was released in 1997 by the legendary Motown label. Further albums included 1998's One Way and 2001's Feel the Power. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide [-] Hide

One of Jamaica's most crucial DJs, Beenie Man's recording career stretches back to 1981, although it was in the sound systems where he later made his mark. The witty toaster began his true ascent to stardom in the early '90s, and by 1994, his reputation couldn't be beat. Then again, when you're a recording veteran at age ten, one wonders just... [+] Read More

One of Jamaica's most crucial DJs, Beenie Man's recording career stretches back to 1981, although it was in the sound systems where he later made his mark. The witty toaster began his true ascent to stardom in the early '90s, and by 1994, his reputation couldn't be beat. Then again, when you're a recording veteran at age ten, one wonders just what took him so long. Every country has its child stars; just look at Shirley Temple, but few treat their prodigies with the respect of Jamaica. Talent competitions lead to radio and TV appearances, and even record contracts, but what's truly amazing is how many of these charming tots continue their career into adulthood. Elsewhere, early stardom inevitably leads to adolescent failure as they're a lot less cute at 18 than they were at eight. But not Jamaica, where they love them as toddlers, adore them as teens, and worship them as adults. Beenie Man is just one stellar example.

Beenie Man (aka Moses Davis) was born in the tough Waterhouse district of Kingston, Jamaica, on August 22, 1973. By the time he was ready for school, the toddler had already decided on a career as a DJ. He wasn't the first tot with dreams of the limelight, but Beenie actually had a true gift for gab. His shot at stardom came when he was only eight, when he took first prize at the national Teeny Talent contest. This led to a meeting with producer Junjo Lawes, who recorded the diminutive DJ's debut single, "Too Fancy." Bunny Lee then took the boy under his wing and put him to work at his Unlimited sound system. By 1983, the youngster found himself appearing on Lawes' Junjo Presents Two Big Sounds, which was recorded live and featured such DJ heavyweights as Dillinger and Fathead. Along with Unlimited, Beenie was also DJing at Prince Jammy's Volcano sound systems, had a hit single to his credit, "Over the Sea," produced by Niney Holness, and even had a debut album out. Produced by Lee, The Invincible Beenie Man, the 10 Year Old DJ Wonder's title pretty much sums it all up. He recorded some songs with Barrington Levy in 1984, two of which, "Under Mi Sensi" and "Two Sounds," would resurface in remixed form later in the '90s. But for the moment, his recording career came virtually to a close, bar the occasional single. But the young DJ remained a sound system favorite, even as he now turned his attention to his schoolwork.

Not surprisingly, Beenie's younger brother, Little Kirk, was keen to follow in his footsteps, and five years later the siblings hooked up with producer Patrick Roberts and began recording a series of singles that quickly brought them into the national spotlight. In 1992, Beenie appeared at Reggae Sunsplash and such was the response that the DJ now felt ready to take on the big guns. Beenie's first target was the acclaimed Bounty Killer, although the young DJ had cause for his attack as the veteran had stolen his catch phrase, "people dead," and the war was on. There was a lull in the very public battle in 1993 when Beenie left Kingston for almost a year after being booed off the stage at a national show celebrating the visit of Nelson Mandela. Upon his return the next year, there was a public reconciliation with Bounty Killer, which resulted in the split album Guns Out.

Beenie had obviously had a major change of heart, further evidenced by his single "No Mama No Cry," a version of Bob Marley's "No Woman No Cry," a scathing indictment of violence, inspired by the murder of fellow DJ Pan Head. The song topped the Jamaican chart and brought the DJ instant acclaim. Jamaica's violent crime rate remains shockingly high and affects people at all levels of society. While drug overdoses and suicide are a proportionately high cause of death for American artists, murder is often the tragic cause in Jamaica. That many of these crimes go unsolved, Pan Head's included, add to the emotional devastation and so does the fact that the violence seemingly comes in waves, carrying off a number of noted figures in the course of a year. Beenie, too, was affected by these events and Sly & Robbie, the producers of his "No Mama No Cry" single, were instrumental in guiding the young DJ toward his conversion to Rastafarianism.

A new attitude and a new hit single instantly turned Beenie's career around. Now working with all the island's top producers, the DJ recorded a slew of singles, many of them religiously themed, "Praise Him" and "World Dance" (which took the Best Single Award at the Jamaican Music Awards) included. The hits-heavy Defend It and Dis Unu Fi Hear were both released in 1994 and combined more culturally themed raps with a hardcore dancehall sound. Many of these singles, bar the Taxi releases, were rounded up on Gold by the British Charm label. Beenie's stardom was confirmed by his taking the DJ of the Year Award that same year. Signing to Island Records, Beenie released the seminal Blessed album, which featured another clutch of hits, including the dancehall smash "Slam."

While in the U.K., the DJ fired the British dancefloors with a jungle remix of "Under Mi Sensi." 1995 also brought a pair of collaborative albums, including Three Against War, which united the DJ with Dennis Brown and Triston Palma, and Mad Cobra Meets Lt. Stitchie & Beenie Man, a tag-team dancehall affair. Joined by Lady Saw, Beenie also scored a major hit with "Healer" that year, just one of many successful collaborative singles that included "Papa Was a Rolling Stone," which paired him with Third World. By the end of the year, Beenie was a shoo-in for the DJ of the Year Award. 1996 brought Maestro, Beenie's first "real" album, as compared to his previous hits collections. Produced by Patrick Roberts, it was a stunning effort featuring a kaleidoscope of moods. The following year proved to be his break out in Britain, when his and Chevelle Franklin's "Dance Hall Queen" bounced up the national chart. Both that single and its follow-up, "Who Am I," were number ones back at home, while the latter rocketed its way into the U.K. Top Ten. In fact, Beenie Man could now do no wrong, and a sound system's worth of his singles flew their way up the Jamaican chart that year and the next. The autobiographical Many Moods of Moses features a number of these smashes, including "Oysters & Conch" and "Foundation."

After headlining Reggae Sunsplash in 1998, Beenie signed to Virgin Records in the U.S.; The Doctor was the first fruit of this new union and was an instant dancehall classic. 1999 brought the King Jammy-produced album Y2K, which never actually mentions everyone's greatest fear that year -- the millennium bug, but does take on a host of other issues from AIDS to illiteracy. And the hit singles just kept on coming, and coming, and coming. Beenie was unstoppable, whether on his own or with other artists, and at times the Jamaican chart seemed to be the DJ's private preserve. "Hot Bwoy" with Buccaneer, "Mi Nu Walla," "Forget You," "Ruff Like We" with Redrose, "100 Dollar Bag," "So Nice" with Silvercat, "In This Together," "Skettel Tune" with Angel Doolas, and "L.O.Y." are just a sampling of the singles the DJ released between 1999 and 2000. The Art & Life album, released in the new century, showcased the DJ at his most eclectic and included guests Arturo Sandoval and Wyclef Jean of Fugees fame. The following year, Beenie reunited with Jean behind the mixing board to produce the debut album by actor Steven Seagal. Janet Jackson, the Neptunes, Lady Saw, and Lil' Kim all turned up as guests on 2002's Tropical Storm, the Beenie Man album with the most crossover appeal. 2004's Back to Basics was just that, a straight-up return to dancehall. The hit-collecting compilation From Kingston to King of the Dancehall appeared in early 2005, and Undisputed, which featured production work from Scott Storch and Don Corleon, among others, was released the next year. ~ Jo-Ann Greene, All Music Guide [-] Hide

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Cocoa Tea's earliest sessions from the 1980s were collected on CD and issued by Ras in 1991. He was forging his style and sometimes sounded tentative and unsure, but the natural ability that has since frequently been compromised by inferior material came to the fore on "Can't Stop Cocoa Tea," his first big hit, and "Evening Time," which... [+] Read More

Cocoa Tea's earliest sessions from the 1980s were collected on CD and issued by Ras in 1991. He was forging his style and sometimes sounded tentative and unsure, but the natural ability that has since frequently been compromised by inferior material came to the fore on "Can't Stop Cocoa Tea," his first big hit, and "Evening Time," which skillfully used the melody of "Mother Nature." While it's woefully short (barely over 30 minutes) and not that well remastered from analog to disc, the restrained production, Tea's mostly outstanding vocals, and its historical importance make Rocking Dolly a valuable release. ~ Ron Wynn, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Boombastic confirmed Shaggy's status as one of the most popular dancehall acts of the '90s, and for good reason -- the record is an infectiously entertaining collection of deep, funky grooves that celebrates good times. Featuring the major hit title track, the album also sports a great guest appearance by Grand Puba on "Why You Treat Me So Bad,"... [+] Read More

Boombastic confirmed Shaggy's status as one of the most popular dancehall acts of the '90s, and for good reason -- the record is an infectiously entertaining collection of deep, funky grooves that celebrates good times. Featuring the major hit title track, the album also sports a great guest appearance by Grand Puba on "Why You Treat Me So Bad," as well as a hot duet with singer Wayne Wonder on "Something Different." Despite a silly cover of "Day Oh," Boombastic keeps the funky reggae coming and is Shaggy's best album to date. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide

The title track of Here Comes the Hotstepper was Ini Kamoze's big pop crossover hit. Also featured on the soundtrack to Ready to Wear, the song lifts a line from "Land of 1000 Dances" and places it on an infectious dancehall beat -- it's a great single that deserved to be a huge hit. The rest of the album isn't as strong, but there are enough... [+] Read More

The title track of Here Comes the Hotstepper was Ini Kamoze's big pop crossover hit. Also featured on the soundtrack to Ready to Wear, the song lifts a line from "Land of 1000 Dances" and places it on an infectious dancehall beat -- it's a great single that deserved to be a huge hit. The rest of the album isn't as strong, but there are enough first-rate tracks to make it enjoyable for most fans of the single. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide