Culture is an iconic Jamaican reggae group, a vocal trio that helped shape the sound and style of Rastafarian roots reggae. As suggested by the name, Culture’s lyrics focused mainly on spiritual, social, and political themes. The group is best known for its legendary album “Two Sevens Clash” and its charismatic leader, singer and songwriter Joseph Hill. Born in the rural Jamaican parish of St. Catherine in 1949, Joseph Hill began his musical career as a sound system deejay, and by the late 1960s, he was a percussionist in the Soul Defenders group. It is said that he often recounted his childho ..read more

John Holt, one of Jamaica’s superb vocalists and enduring songwriters, was born in the Greenwich Farm area of Kingston in July 1947. His talent was evident as soon as he was 12 when he won his first singing contest. He won 28 titles over the next four years and then launched his recording career in 1963 with producer Leslie Kong, who recorded Holt’s self-penned debut single, “Forever I’ll Stay/I Cried a Tear”. Next, the young artist began working with producer Clive Chin, recording “Rum Bumper” as a duet with Alton Ellis. The Paragons trio In 1964, John Holt joined the vocal group the Paragons ..read more

Born David Sinclair in 1955 in Kingston, Jamaica, Tapper Zukie (also known as Tappa Zukie) became a singer, producer, and dub master in London in the early ’70s. He was immersed in Kingston’s sound system scene as early as his pre-teen years, but by age 17, he was getting in trouble to the point where his parents sent him to England to live with relatives there. In an interview with Peter I at reggae-vibes.com, Tapper Zukie explained that his parents kicked him out of the house when he was only around 12 because: “It’s true I used to follow these sounding systems, and every time I go and come ..read more

Nkrumah Manley Thomas – a.k.a. Jah Thomas – was born in 1955 in Kingston, Jamaica, and grew up between the districts of Trench Town and Rose Town. He was named after Kwame Nkrumah, the African nationalist who secured Ghana’s independence from the British in 1957. After completing his education, Jah Thomas started working in a garage owned by one of Kingston’s Ford dealers. There, he learned the skills of a panel beater and welder. I used to sing and deejay as I beat the panels. They used to call me the jukebox… and the more singing and deejaying I did, the happier I was. [Interview on ReggaeC ..read more

Jah Shaka is considered the father of sound systems in the U.K. and hailed for his forward-thinking style with dub experimentalism incorporating electronic elements without losing any heaviness. Born in Jamaica around the 1950s, Jah Shaka moved to Southeast London with his parents at the age of eight. Jah Shaka’s real name is not known to this day, a factor that increases the mystery around him. His stage name combined his spiritual interest in Rastafari with the 18th-century Zulu, King Shaka. He was also known as Zulu Warrior. Jah Shaka performing (photo by Stephen Mosco) In the ’60s, Jah Sha ..read more

Dub mixer and record producer Lloyd James – better known as Prince Jammy or King Jammy – was born in 1947 in Montego Bay, Jamaica. He moved to Kingston and took to music at an early age, also thanks to the fact that he lived in the Waterhouse district on the same street as the legendary electronics technician and sound system operator Osbourne Ruddock, a.k.a. King Tubby. Lloyd James displayed an early understanding of electronics and soon began building amplifiers and started his own sound system in the late 1960s. He briefly left Jamaica to work in Canada for a few years and returned to King ..read more

Donat Roy Mittoo, a.k.a. Jackie Mittoo, was born on March 3, 1948, in Browns Town, Jamaica. Mittoo was taught to play the piano by his grandmother from age four and began performing in public before he was ten. As a teenager, Mittoo performed professionally in groups including the Vagabonds and the Vikings and hooked up with a young Augustus Pablo and another friend in a musical group known as the Jackie Mitree. He frequently skipped school to play with the house band at the nearby Federal Studios. This is where he met producer Coxsone Dodd, who enrolled Mittoo for recording sessions when the ..read more

Born Cecil Campbell in a seaside shack in Jamaica on 9 October 1957, Ini Kamoze was the son of an authoritarian police superintendent dubbed “The Scorpion” and a factory worker mother. In a fit of anger over not hearing from his father, his mother placed the baby in a cardboard box and left him at the gate of another female acquaintance of his dad in Jones Town, a Kingston ghetto. The woman, Miss Ette, still claims him as her little son – according to inikamoze.com. As a young boy, Kamoze went to live with his grandfather, where he showed great promise to become the doctor of the family. Howev ..read more

Earl “Sixteen” Daley was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1958. His passion for music started at home, where his ingenious dad would create simple string instruments, such as a banjo made of coconut, fishing lines and bamboo strings. At the age of 13, Earl entered a talent show and won it, beating future stars such as Junior Moore (who would become the lead singer with the Tamlins) and Michael Rose (Black Uhuru’s lead singer). He then formed a group with some friends, the Flaming Phonics, and by 1974 he started singing professionally with Boris Gardiner’s band. When asked by ReggaeVille about how ..read more

Discover some of Jamaica’s top child stars, from classic reggae singers to dancehall DJs. Many proceeded to have successful careers as adults. Billy Boyo Billy Boyo was a teenage star of pre-digital dancehall. He was born in 1969 in Kingston, Jamaica. His real name was Billy Theophilus Rowe. Legendary producer Henry “Junjo” Lawes discovered Billy Boyo when he was just 12 years old. In the early 1980s, Billy Boyo recorded some amazing hits with the powerful Roots Radics Band and the innovative young engineer Scientist. ‘One spliff a day’ is one notable example. Always under Junjo, Billy Boyo r ..read more