Innocent Kru

The Innocent Crew consists of Courtney ‘Clumsy Daps’ Morris, Carey ‘Macka Head’ Campbell, Leonard ‘Copper Kid’ Anerly and Hemsley ‘Benzley Hype’ Morris Jnr. Each member had already established a presence on Jamaica’s sound system scene before the quartet united. Courtney Morris honed his chanting skills on Stone Wave Sound in Seaview Gardens, while Campbell balanced live performances on a local system with his work as a studio engineer in Ocho Rios. Morris Jnr., whose father was the early reggae artist Hemsley Morris responsible for the 70s hits ‘Just Can’t Get You Out Of My Mind’ and ‘Little Things’, first appeared on the La Benz sound system that had earlier propelled Spragga Benz. The crew itself took shape on La Benz when Morris Jnr. and Campbell brought in Courtney Morris and Anerly. Their initial break came through a weekly Sunday night session in Duhaney Park that earned them a supporting slot at the Cactus nightclub alongside Spragga Benz. In 1997 Yolande Rattray-Wright assumed management duties and arranged a recording deal with Sly And Robbie’s Taxi production outlet. Under that partnership the group scored Jamaican chart successes with the remix ‘Mission Impossible’ of ‘Impossible Train’ and with ‘Tell A Gal Seh’, before an international hit, ‘Wow’, arrived after they moved to Arrow Records. They delivered a well-received set at the 1998 Jamaican Sumfest festival and, the following year, joined DJ Merciless onstage at the Salem Unity Concert in Montego Bay. Later in 1999, citing ongoing frustrations with Rattray-Wright, the members publicly declared in the press that they had dismissed their manager. Shortly afterward they scored a hit alongside Thriller U on ‘Long Time’ and another on their own with ‘Haunt Woman’.