Jamaican Singer U-Roy Dancehall Introduces Hip Hop Dies At 78: NPR

Ewart “U-Roy” Beckford, who transformed the Jamaican art of roasting, or deejaying, from a vocal system phenomenon into a successful art form that deeply influenced generations of Dancehall artists as well as the formation of early hip-hop, Matt. U-Roy partner, Marcia Smikle, told The Jamaica Glenner He has been sick for quite some time; It was news, too Has been confirmed By Trojan logs. He was 78 years old.

Respectfully referred to as teacher, creator, or simply father, U-Roy was not the most popular name in Jamaican music among the global audience, yet it had an incalculable influence on the development of reggae, dancehall and their branches, most notably hip hop.

Jamaican dance star Sean Paul told NPR, “This is a very sad day for Jamaica and for the dance type, we have lost a major; it’s someone every DJ should look forward to – and me.” “When he heard his name grow up, and hear his songs, he came up with a different style; before U-Roy, no one was toasting in the records and filling in the blanks.” Sean’s vocal contributions to 2016’s first song Sia ”Cheap thrills“It has a U-Roy effect, he says.” Small ads on this record, and Bodda Bang BangI learned from him that he is “showing off to the Grammy Award-winning Platinum Artist.” He pioneered the way for someone like me to do what I do. “

The art of roasting that U-Roy originated in Kingston in 1941 has evolved from the early days of sound system dances in Jamaica. Back when only one turntable was used to play the recordings in a dance, the selector (which selects the recordings) was called in to keep the audience engaged with a playful crackle while flipping the disc from side A to side B. Citing jazz prose as its primary inspiration, he developed the U-flow Roy melted, and precisely timed the rhyme style of the oldest roasters of Jamaica, including Count Matchuki, King Sporty, King Stitt and Lord Comic.

U-Roy began toasting toast in 1961, and rose through the ranks to become the best DJ in the preeminent sound system of King Tubby’s creator, the Hometown Hi-Fi, in the late 1960s. The revolutionary Tubby mix, which removes vocals and various instruments from recording, gave toasters like U-Roy the opportunity to fully display their vocal prowess. Singer John Holt notes that Yu Roy is drinking a toast live on an instrumental version of Holt’s singleYou wear the ball, “Produced by Duke Reid. Holt told Reid to bring U-Roy into the studio; his productions with U-Roy have produced the singles” Wear You to the Ball “,” Wake the Town “and” Rule the Nation. ”

U-Roy went on to sign for several producers in Jamaica. He was signed to Virgin Records in the mid-1970s, which led to his signature vocals to a wider international audience. He launched his own sound system, Stur Gav, which he named after his sons and introduced another generation of toasters including Ranking Joe, Dean Jerry, Charlie Chaplin, and Ranks a young man. With a deal with Epic Records in 1991, Shabba was taking deejaying and dancehall reggae to major US audiences, on the Billboard charts and winning two Grammys. Sheba’s single “Respect” in 1993 in honor of the dancehall greats who preceded him highlights the profound influence U-Roy has on any toaster that holds a microphone: “The wonderful rule of U-Roy dun, U-Roy the godfather of the deejay school.”

In 2019, on the 10th anniversary of Reeewind a series From live events in New York, promoter Garfield “Chin” Burne, CEO of Irish and Chin Promotions, recruited Shabba to crown U-Roy – a gesture that brought tears into the eyes of the older artist. Chen told NPR, “We have brought a young man to show the younger generation who may not know that this is the person to be given all the credit for his existence.” “U-Roy didn’t invent deejaying, but he got the best at it, and his voice was so exciting, that the other deejays who followed him wanted to be just as rhythmic as he was and make those smooth rhymes as he did.”

The influx of U-Roy also laid some of the foundations for what would become a rap in the US “Most early hip-hop artists had Caribbean roots and were directly influenced by the Dancehall Jamaica space,” Chen says, citing the rhythm that in Sugar Hill heard the success of the model gang “Rapper’s Delight” descends Directly from this smooth lyrical flow mastered by U-Roy. He is the godfather of dance music and hip-hop too.

In the early 1990s, while the Jamaican dance floor was enjoying widespread commercial success with roasters like Shaba, Super Cat and Pogo Pantone, this journalist interviewed U-Roy about his leading role in this important development. With characteristic humility, U-Roy said he was happy that deejay’s music had arrived so far, although he was somewhat surprised by it. He said, “If you had said at the time that this music from sound systems would make Jamaicans on American radio, I wouldn’t believe it,” he said, “but I’m happy to see this happen now and play a small role in him – she.”