Biography
Moses Davis, born Anthony Moses Davis and better known by his stage name Beenie Man, stands among Jamaica’s most accomplished deejays. He captured “Jamaica’s Deejay of the Year” in 1994, then reached listeners worldwide with the 1997 album The Many Moods of Moses, which merged dancehall rhythms with Zulu-like vocal harmonies. The next year the single “Who Am I” climbed into Britain’s Top Ten without major-label backing or radio support. Tropical Storm, issued in 2002, spotlighted the track “Feel It Boy” and included a guest turn by Janet Jackson. “I have a dictionary in my head,” Davis explained in a late-’90s interview. “The beats create a melody and once you find the melody, that’s the song.”
The nephew of Jimmy Cliff’s drummer, Davis began toasting at five and won a Teeny Talent contest at eight. His first recording, cut at ten, was the Winston “Niney” Holiness-produced single “Too Fancy” b/w “Over the Sea.” The album The Invisible Beenie Man: Ten Year Boy Wonder, helmed by Bunny “Striker” Lee, became a major reggae success. Early fame nevertheless brought hardship; he frequently slept on streets and beaches and went without meals. After brief periods in England, the United States, and Canada, he returned to Jamaica in the early ’90s. The homecoming yielded hits such as “Wicked Man.” Although long-standing rivals, he and Bounty Killer joined forces on the chart-topping single “Guns Out.” With Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare he cut reggae versions of Bob Marley’s “No Woman No Cry” and “Crazy Baldhead,” the latter recorded alongside Luciano. While touring Britain in 1994, Davis teamed with Barrington Levy on a jungle track later remixed as “Under Mi Sensi X Project Jungle Spliff.” He circled the globe with the Shocking Vibes Crew in 1996.
The nephew of Jimmy Cliff’s drummer, Davis began toasting at five and won a Teeny Talent contest at eight. His first recording, cut at ten, was the Winston “Niney” Holiness-produced single “Too Fancy” b/w “Over the Sea.” The album The Invisible Beenie Man: Ten Year Boy Wonder, helmed by Bunny “Striker” Lee, became a major reggae success. Early fame nevertheless brought hardship; he frequently slept on streets and beaches and went without meals. After brief periods in England, the United States, and Canada, he returned to Jamaica in the early ’90s. The homecoming yielded hits such as “Wicked Man.” Although long-standing rivals, he and Bounty Killer joined forces on the chart-topping single “Guns Out.” With Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare he cut reggae versions of Bob Marley’s “No Woman No Cry” and “Crazy Baldhead,” the latter recorded alongside Luciano. While touring Britain in 1994, Davis teamed with Barrington Levy on a jungle track later remixed as “Under Mi Sensi X Project Jungle Spliff.” He circled the globe with the Shocking Vibes Crew in 1996.