Jamaican Music

Assassin is one of the hottest DJs in dancehall reggae music. He lives up to his name but “killing” people on the microphone whenever he gets the chance. He takes no prisoners.

Alicia J. Augello-Cook was born on January 25, 1981 and is better known by her stage name Alicia Keys. Her mom, Teresa Augello is of Irish, Scottish, and Italian descent and her father, Craig Cook, is Jamaican. As an R&B, soul, and neo-soul singer, songwriter pianist, and actress, she has sold over 25 million albums worldwide and has won numerous awards including 11 Grammy awards, 11 Billboard music awards, 3 American Music Awards, and 14 NAACP Image Awards.

Glamma Kid, was awarded the best reggae act award back in 1998 by the MOBO awards. Glamma Kid is often referred to as the Puff Daddy of UK reggae.

Trevor Tahiem Smith Jr., better known as Busta Rhymes was born on May 20, 1972 and is a Jamaican-American hip hop musician and actor. Busta Rhymes is known for his often high-speed rhyme-delivery, as heard on his hits Gimme Some More and Break Ya Neck.

Pad Anthony is a great roots reggae singer that has been doing his thing on the scene in Jamaica for many years.

Previously with his own solo career, Andru Donalds is now working in collaboration with the Enigma project as lead vocalist. Back in 1995, Andru Donalds had a hit single in 1995 entitled Mishale, which landed #38 on the Billboard Hot 100. Enjoy the video below.

Cham, formerly known as Baby Cham has received much acclaim during the last couple years due to his collaborations with R & B singer Alicia Keyes. However, Cham has been on the scene for many years and continues  to make his mark in dancehall music.

One of Jamaica’s most famous deejays, Spragga Benz (born Carlton Grant on May 30, 1969) began his career around 1991. He was known to his friends as spaghetti because of his tall and slim frame, but was later shortened to “spragga”. The Benz in his name is from the sound system he used to work for in L.A., where he made his way in the music industry at a Dubplate recording session with Buju Banton. Most recently, he appeared in the Jamaican movie, Shottas.

Legendary reggae dancehall music artist, Yellowman has enjoyed fame for over 3 decades. He has paved the way for artists such as Buju Banton, Sean Paul, Super Cat and Ninjaman.

 He is the first deejay to cultivate the art of toasting, which is the style in reggae music where the deejays start chanting on the record.  He is also the first reggae music artist to be on a mainstream record label.

Buju Banton (Mark Anthony Myrie in real life) is a Jamaican dancehall and reggae musician born on July 15, 1973. He was born near Kingston, Jamaica in a poor neighborhood called Salt Lane. “Buju” is a nickname for chubby children, which was irony compared to Buju’s slim frame as a child while “Banton” is a Jamaican word referring to someone with a superior attitude and a gift of speech. Buju Banton is also the uncle of Sean Kingston.