Shinehead

Shinehead’s upbringing, which alternated between Jamaica and the United States, left a clear imprint on his music. Born Edmund Carl Aiken in Kent, England, the vocalist issued multiple albums from the late 1980s into the early 1990s that fused dancehall and ragga with hip-hop. Whether he was toasting, crooning, or delivering straight rap verses, his lyrics consistently mixed socially conscious and uplifting themes with lighter, playful observations. He first entered the scene by performing on New York sound systems in the early 1980s and started putting out singles by 1984; one of them, a version of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” helped launch his career in earnest. Activity tapered off in the second half of the 1990s, yet he resurfaced in 1999 with the album Praises, which largely featured cover material.