Gyptian

Having departed his countryside residence in St. Andrew, Jamaica, Windell Beneto Edwards journeyed to Portmore, where the promoter Mr. Wong operated a recording studio, and there adopted the stage name Gyptian. Raised on hymns within his mother’s Adventist congregation while absorbing the sounds favored by his Rastafarian father, the young singer benefited from parental insight: his father had once worked as a promoter and therefore grasped the grooming and connections required to convert raw talent into a career. Trusting Ravin Wong, whose track record included transforming raw prospects into reggae figures such as I Wayne, the family allowed the mentor to guide Windell through successive name changes—“Egyptian,” then “I-Gyptian,” and finally Gyptian.

Wong next supplied a composition that aligned with the singer’s socially aware background; after contributing an original verse, Gyptian recorded “Serious Times” at the Portmore facility. Layering hypnotic nyabinghi drums beneath pleas for an end to violence and crime, the track swept across Jamaica and placed the artist alongside Jah Cure and Fantan Mojah, fellow roots-reggae voices advocating peace and justice. Once the single reached the top of the Jamaican charts, numerous producers approached Gyptian for further collaborations, yet he declined most offers whose lyrics promoted gun culture or misogyny. Sufficient material rooted in conscious themes and classic lovers rock eventually coalesced into his 2006 debut album, My Name Is Gyptian, issued by the VP label.

Two years later he delivered I Can Feel Your Pain, an album steeped in contemporary R&B textures. Spotlight returned in 2010 with the enormous Jamaican success “Hold You,” which prompted a soca remix, a hip-hop version featuring rapper Nicki Minaj, dubstep reinterpretations by Diplo and Toddla T, and a full-length project bearing the same title. In 2013 Gyptian released the more pop-focused Love, Sex and Reggae, again enlisting Diplo among its producers.