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Admiral Bailey (born Glendon Orville Bailey, 1966) is a Jamaican deejay who became one of the defining voices of the digital dancehall era after being brought to King Jammy's Waterhouse studio, reportedly via Josey Wales, having worked King Sturgav Hi-Fi. Working with Jammy he produced a string of late-1980s anthems including 'Politician', 'Big Belly Man', 'Jump Up' and the controversial 'Punaany', later re-cut as 'Healthy Body'. His hard, chant-like delivery over Jammy riddims made him a dancehall mainstay.
person · ProbableAgent SascoAgent Sasco, formerly known as Assassin, is a Jamaican dancehall and reggae artist whose career spans hardcore dancehall, conscious collaborations and reggae-revival-era projects, making him a bridge between deejay craft and newer roots-influenced networks.
person · ProbableAidoniaRapid-fire modern dancehall deejay (Sheldon Lawrence, b. 1981), leader of the 4th Genna crew, known for 'Lolly', 'Yeah Yeah' and hardcore lyricism; a prominent contemporary chanter of the streets-era dancehall.
person · ProbableAinsley GreyAinsley Grey was Killamanjaro's premier selector during the sound's breakthrough in the early-1980s live-artist era, a period in which Killamanjaro helped launch the careers of deejays including Early B, Super Cat, Lone Ranger and Ninjaman. He left Killamanjaro in 1985 to join a rival set assembled by Skeng Don.
person · Well supportedAlkalineJamaican deejay Earlan Bartley, a leading voice of 2010s dancehall whose Vendetta following grew on tracks such as "Champion Boy," "City" and "After All.".
person · Well supportedAndre “King Waggy Tee” Chue SangAndre “King Waggy Tee” Chue Sang is a Kingston-born selector, sound-system operator and radio deejay who helped establish reggae and dancehall in South Florida clubs and radio from the late 1970s. He hosted “Bashment Explosion”; Miramar, Florida proclaimed 18 January 2022 Waggy Tee Day in recognition of his promotion of reggae, dancehall and world music.
person · ProbableAnthony BAnthony B (born Keith Anthony Blair, 1976) is a Jamaican Rastafarian deejay who emerged in the mid-1990s conscious-reggae wave from rural Trelawny. Linking with producer Richard "Bello" Bell at Star Trail Records, he became known for militant, socially critical lyrics, most notably the 1996 single "Fire Pon Rome," which was banned from Jamaican radio for targeting the Vatican. He has since maintained a long international touring career.
person · Well supportedAnthony Red RoseAnthony Red Rose is a Jamaican dancehall singer-deejay whose 1985 tune 'Tempo', recorded in one take after King Tubby overheard him rehearsing it and produced by King Jammy, gave its name to the widely versioned Tempo riddim and became a foundation record of the Waterhouse digital-dancehall style. He later co-founded the production label How Yu Fi Say Dat with fellow deejay Anthony Malvo.
person · Well supportedArthur "Duke" ReidArthur Reid (1915-1975), policeman turned liquor merchant, sound-system owner and producer. His Trojan sound contested the late-1950s dances with Coxsone's Downbeat, and from his Bond Street premises he built Treasure Isle into the defining rocksteady operation — Alton Ellis, the Techniques, the Paragons, Phyllis Dillon — before opening his rhythms to U-Roy's toasting in 1970 and helping launch the deejay record.
person · Well supportedAsher SenatorAsher Senator (Peter St Aubyn) is a British MC raised in Clapham, South London, who began deejaying at 14 on the Buchanan sound system alongside Smiley Culture before joining Saxon Studio International's fast-chat crew; his 1986 solo album Born To Chat remains his best-known release.
person · Well supportedBaby ChamJamaican deejay Damian Beckett, who rose in the late 1990s with Dave Kelly's Madhouse label and later reached a global audience with "Ghetto Story" (2006) featuring Alicia Keys.
person · Well supportedBeenie ManMoses Anthony Davis, born 22 August 1973 in the Waterhouse district of Kingston, began deejaying as a child and has been a fixture of dancehall for four decades — long enough that his claim to the title King of the Dancehall is contested mainly by people who were not yet recording when he started. His run through the late 1990s and 2000s took the music onto international radio: "Who Am I", then "Girls Dem Sugar" with the American singer Mýa, and the album Art and Life, which won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 2001. His long rivalry with Bounty Killer, joined at Sting in 1993 and carried through the decade, is one of the defining feuds of the era and is catalogued separately here.
person · ProbableBenzly HypeHemsley Morris Jnr, a founding member of the Innocent Crew and the one who turned the group into a second career. After the crew's run on Taxi and Arrow he conceived, wrote and produced Me and Mi Kru, a sitcom built out of the group's own experience of the music business, which ran on CVM from 2009 and later moved to TVJ; he released the whole series free on YouTube in March 2020 as the pandemic closed Jamaica down, and re-released the project to fresh attention in 2023. He is one of the few Jamaican deejays to have made the move from the microphone to writing and producing for television rather than through it.
person · ProbableBig JoeJamaican roots-era deejay of the 1970s who voiced for Bunny Lee and other producers in the years when U-Roy's success opened the studios to toasters.
person · Well supportedBig YouthBig 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.
