Sister Carol

Sister Carol stood out as one of the dancehall period’s infrequent women to succeed as a DJ, projecting a feminist perspective in reggae comparable to Queen Latifah. Drawing from her Rastafarian beliefs, she concentrated on socially aware themes that delivered encouraging and advisory messages while consistently calling for greater regard toward women. Functioning chiefly as a singjay rather than an exclusive toaster, she combined tuneful singing with firm rhythmic delivery. Though she never became a dominant commercial force, her extended run in the business earned steady respect from critics.

Born Carol East in Kingston, Jamaica, during 1959, she spent her early years in the Denham Town ghetto. Her father served as a radio engineer in the music business, and in 1973 he relocated the household to Brooklyn for employment opportunities. Carol participated in the city’s active Jamaican music community and experimented with singing, yet she first completed a degree in education at CCNY and welcomed her initial child in 1981. Shortly before that birth she encountered Jamaican DJ Brigadier Jerry, whose example prompted her to shift toward dancehall-style chatting. Under his guidance she advanced quickly, claiming victory in talent contests across New York and Jamaica before supporting the Meditations on tour. The small-label release Liberation for Africa appeared in limited pressing the next year.

The 1984 album Black Cinderella, issued on Jah Life, secured Sister Carol’s place among international reggae listeners through its title track—her signature piece—and the song “Oh Jah (Mi Ready).” She soon launched her own Black Cinderella imprint to handle subsequent singles. One early highlight was a joint version of Bob Marley’s “Screwface” recorded with former I-Three member Judy Mowatt and released on Mowatt’s Ashandan label. Several years passed before another full-length project, during which Carol pursued acting and secured supporting parts in Jonathan Demme’s 1986 comedy Something Wild, which featured her track “Wild Thing” on the soundtrack, and the 1988 film Married to the Mob.

Jah Disciple arrived in 1989 and initiated a steady sequence of recordings that continued through the nineties. Mother Culture followed in 1991, adding the nickname Mother Culture to her earlier Black Cinderella moniker. Heartbeat issued her most prominent album to that point, Call Mi Sister Carol, in 1995, and Lyrically Potent appeared the next year, earning Sister Carol her initial Grammy nomination for Best Reggae Album. Isis: The Original Womb-Man came out on Bob Marley’s Tuff Gong label in 1999. Direct Hit!: Sister Carol - Live became her first concert recording in 2001, and Empressive arrived in 2003 with a collaboration alongside Buju Banton on “His Mercy Endureth.”