Biography
Born around 1955 in Kingston, Jamaica, Paul Love launched his career operating the Echo Bell sound system before moving on to U-Roy’s Stur Gav outfit alongside DJ Little Joe, better known as Ranking Joe. That association ended abruptly when political violence during the 1980 Jamaican elections destroyed the sound. The pair subsequently linked up with Ray Symbolics Hi Fi, whose UK tour earned strong acclaim until Ray’s fatal return to Jamaica sparked conflicting accounts ranging from a drink-driving incident to a fatal clash with police. Love and Ranking Joe then formed the Sharp Axe label, scoring 1982 hits with “Ice Cream Style” and Armageddon. Two years later Love helmed Barrington Levy’s “Under Mi Sensi,” initiating an enduring production alliance. His work on “Here I Come” secured national airplay and television slots after London Records licensed the track, though the same imprint’s release of “Money Moves” failed to connect. Love also established the Time One production stable. In 1988 he oversaw Levy’s “She’s Mine” and Sassafras’s “Step Up In Life.” Though he cut the late-1980s single “Original Soundboy Killer” for Wildfire under his own name, production remained his primary strength. Rebranded as Jah Screw, he topped the reggae charts in 1991 with “Dancehall Rock”—a reworking of Bob Marley’s “Trenchtown Rock”—by uniting Levy and Cutty Ranks. The following year he delivered further successes for Dennis Brown, Reggie Stepper and Chaka Demus. In 1994 his ragga remix “Under Mi Sensi 94 Spliff,” featuring Beenie Man, again reached number one on the reggae survey, and in 1995 he paired Levy with Bounty Killer for “Living Dangerously.”