Foundation deejays

Winston 'Count Machuki' Cooper (1939-1995) is regarded as Jamaica's first deejay: he began chatting live jive over records on Tom the Great Sebastian's sound in the early 1950s and later became the voice of Coxsone Dodd's Downbeat, directly inspiring U-Roy and the toasting tradition.

Winston 'King Stitt' Sparkes (1940-2012), 'The Ugly One', succeeded Count Machuki as deejay on Coxsone Dodd's Downbeat sound and cut early deejay sides including 'Fire Corner' (1969) with Clancy Eccles — a direct bridge from sound-system chatting to recorded toasting.

Ewart Beckford (1942-2021), the deejay who made toasting a recorded form. He had been talking over records on the sound systems for years — with Dickie Dynamic, Sir George the Atomic, and most importantly on Coxsone Dodd's Downbeat — when Duke Reid put him on the Treasure Isle rocksteady rhythms in 1970. The results took over the Jamaican charts, at one point reportedly holding the top three positions at once with "Wake the Town", "Rule the Nation" and "Wear You to the Ball", and the album Version Galore made the form permanent. What he established was that a deejay's voice over an existing rhythm was a record in its own right, not a novelty: everything from Jamaican deejaying to rap descends in part from those sessions. He ran his own Stur-Gav Hi-Fi from the late 1970s, the sound that gave Josey Wales and Charlie Chaplin their start, and recorded into his final years. He was awarded the Order of Distinction and died on 17 February 2021.

Dennis Alcapone (Dennis Asquith Smith, born 1947 in Clarendon, Jamaica) is a Jamaican deejay and one of the original toasters who rose to prominence in the early 1970s. Inspired by King Tubby's Home Town Hi-Fi and U-Roy, he founded the El Paso sound system in 1969 with friends before recording for producers including Keith Hudson, Coxsone Dodd at Studio One, Duke Reid and Bunny Lee. His bright, exuberant vocal style made him among the most popular deejays of the era before he relocated to England.

Big Youth (Manley Augustus Buchanan, born 19 April 1949) is a Jamaican deejay and toaster who became one of the most influential vocalists of 1970s roots reggae, known for a melodic, chanting, Rastafari-infused style. His 1973 debut album Screaming Target, produced by Gussie Clarke, set the benchmark for deejay albums and helped transform the deejay from party hype-man into a serious social and spiritual voice. He ranks alongside U-Roy, I-Roy and Dennis Alcapone among the foundational toasters whose approach influenced later dancehall and hip-hop.

I-Roy (Roy Samuel Reid, 1944 - 27 November 1999) was a Jamaican deejay and one of the most prolific and articulate toasters of the 1970s, noted for his witty, wordy delivery. His productive partnership with producer Gussie Clarke yielded most of his acclaimed 1973 debut album Presenting I Roy, and he recorded extensively for a range of producers throughout the decade, often trading lyrical barbs with rival deejay Prince Jazzbo. He died of heart failure in a Spanish Town hospital at age 55.

Prince Jazzbo (born Linval Roy Carter, 1951-2013) was a Jamaican reggae deejay and producer known for his laid-back, nasal 'croaking' toasting style. He began recording for Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd's Studio One in the early 1970s, cutting sides such as 'Crab Walking', and later engaged in a famous recorded clash with rival deejay I-Roy across a series of answer records. He went on to produce as head of his own Ujama label, working with artists including Horace Andy and Frankie Paul.

Dillinger (Lester Bullock, born 1953 in Kingston) is a Jamaican deejay known for his humorous, quick-witted toasting who gained international success in the mid-1970s. His 1976 Island album CB 200, recorded at Channel One and produced by Joseph "Jo Jo" Hoo Kim, yielded "Cokane in My Brain," which became a major hit in Europe, reaching number one in the Netherlands. He was among the toasters who carried the Jamaican deejay style to a wider global audience.

Deejay of the 1970s roots era whose "Three Piece Suit" (1977), ridden over the "I'm Still in Love" rhythm for Joe Gibbs, provoked the answer record that outran it — Althea and Donna's "Uptown Top Ranking". A fixture of the post-U-Roy generation that carried deejay records into the album era.

Gruff-voiced roots deejay and chanter (Michael Williams, c.1944-1983), nicknamed 'the Voice of Thunder', whose 'Under Heavy Manners' and 'Psalms for I' brought a sermonic, Rastafarian gravity to the toasting tradition; a singular foundation deejay.