U-Roy, Whose âToastingâ Transformed Jamaican Music, Dies at 78
He popularized the genre in which the D.J. adds a vocal and verbal layer to a recorded track, a precursor of rap.
U-Roy performing in 1984 in Montego Bay, Jamaica. “I think we can call him the ‘Godfather of Rap,’” an authority on reggae music said.Credit.David Corio/Redferns, via Getty Images
Feb. 19, 2021
U-Roy, who helped transform Jamaican music by expanding the role of D.J. into someone who didnât just introduce records but added a layer of vocal and verbal improvisation to them, a performance that was known as toasting and that anticipated rap, died on Wednesday in Kingston, Jamaica. He was 78.
U-Roy, one of the pioneers of reggae and dancehall music, has reportedly passed away at the age of 78. Today, news has emerged that yet another music icon ha.
Reggae Pioneer U-Roy Dies at 78
Celebrity
The Jamaican reggae musician, who introduced the vocal style of toasting which eventually evolved into the modern-day rap, has passed away at the age of 78. Feb 19, 2021
Born
Ewart Beckford, the artist, also known as
Daddy U-Roy, began his career as a DJ, and became famed for creating the vocal style of toasting, in which musicians performed rhymical speech over a reggae or dancehall beat - which eventually evolved into modern-day rap.
He signed his first recording contract with Jamaican producer and label owner Arthur Duke Reid in 1970, and enjoyed early success with singles Wake the Town , This Station Rule the Nation , and Wear You to the Ball .
U-Roy, influential reggae artist, dies at 78
A.D. Amorosi, provided by
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An influential singer of gently melodic reggae, his conversational rapping was also known as “toasting.”
“As we mourn the loss, we have the memories of this amazing talent,” wrote producer, studio operator and U-Roy collaborator Mad Professor on Facebook. “We have the stories. Without him there would be no Dancehall, no Hiphop, no Rap, no Afrobeat.”
The Professor wasn’t just boasting.
As a traveling sound system DJ in the 1960s and ’70s, alongside the legendary likes of King Tubby (for whom he rapped, famously), and Coxsone Dodd, U-Roy lent his often lovely and mellifluous conversational chatter rapping with a flow and an intuitive feel for the rhythms to sparsely arranged reggae, dancehall and dub tracks in a live setting. Not only did this make him one of dancehall’s toasting innovators, U-Roy crafted some of the earliest forms of rap, for which he won sobriquets