Notch

Norman Howell, hailing from Hartford, Connecticut, and performing as Notch, formed one half of the ragga/hip-hop duo Born Jamericans and helped introduce dancehall to American urban radio in the 1990s through the singles "Boom Shak-a-Tak" and "Send My Love." At the time known as Mr. Notch, he supplied the sultry, smooth singing voice opposite Edley Shine's rugged, toasting rhymes. Following the group's 1998 disbandment, Notch began exploring his Latin heritage and resurfaced in the 2000s as an emerging reggaeton talent. Delivering vocals in English, Spanish, and Jamaican patois—sometimes simultaneously, a fusion he labeled "Spatoinglish"—he wove merengue, cumbia, and bachata together with urban-pop and hip-hop elements into his shifting blend of reggaeton and dancehall. His mixed racial background—Black American, Puerto Rican, Jamaican, and Cuban—shaped this cross-pollinating style. While working with Edley Shine, Notch largely set aside his Latin influences, in part because of his Jamaican/Afro-Cuban father, a reggae bassist whose guidance proved pivotal; the elder Howell first acquainted him with the infectious dance riddims that steered Notch toward Shine. Born Jamericans climbed the reggae and dance charts by adopting more Americanized hip-hop and pop-R&B productions, earning crossover airplay on U.S. mainstream outlets yet facing criticism from Jamaican dancehall purists. Going solo, Notch spent considerable time in Jamaica during the early 2000s laying down authentic reggae and dancehall recordings, until a bilingual Tony Touch mixtape prompted him to merge the languages and dialects of his childhood. The first track he crafted in "Spatoinglish," "Hay Que Bueno," inadvertently placed him inside the expanding reggaeton movement. That multilingual hit gained traction on both Latin and reggae outlets and took him to Puerto Rico to collaborate with rising reggaeton producers. By 2004–2005, "Hay Que Bueno" crossed onto American Latin radio and appeared on the Billboard Latin charts, leading to guest spots on releases by Daddy Yankee, Luny Tunes, Beenie Man, ska rockers Sublime, and experimental acid jazz duo Thievery Corporation. His debut solo album, Raised by the People, surfaced in late spring 2007 via his own Cinco por Cinco imprint and Universal subsidiary Machete Music. With the single "Dale Pa' Tra (Back It Up)" receiving steady U.S. rotation, the project reached the Top 100 of the Latin charts and the Top Five of the reggae charts.