U-Roy

U-Roy stood out as an innovator who helped shape reggae’s trajectory by being one of the earliest practitioners of toasting, a style in which a DJ would rap across instrumental dub records. As far back as 1961 he was already toasting, improvising rhymes and lyrical detours between tracks to sustain the momentum at dances. That approach would ignite a major development in Jamaican music while also supplying a foundation for hip-hop, as U-Roy’s relaxed delivery in particular shaped East Coast rappers at the genre’s late-’70s emergence. Widely recognized as “The Originator,” his recordings throughout the ’70s quietly steered dancehall’s growth. He stayed productive until his passing in 2021, issuing fresh material as late as the Mad Professor-produced Talking Roots in 2018, while his final studio tracks appeared on the posthumous album Solid Gold U-Roy shortly after his death.

Born Ewart Beckford in Jones Town, Jamaica, in 1942, he began working as a DJ in 1961 and moved through several sound systems before securing the top spot at King Tubby’s Hi-Fi in the late ’60s. Producer Keith Hudson first brought U-Roy into the studio in late 1969, though those recordings faced delays before release. Brief sessions with Bunny Lee and Lloyd Daley yielded singles that sparked local interest, after which U-Roy teamed with singer John Holt in early 1970. Holt’s partnership highlighted the DJ’s distinctive toasting technique, and their joint releases quickly rose on the charts. Key performances from this period were later gathered on the 1971 album Version Galore, helping toasting gain widespread traction across Jamaica.

During the ’70s U-Roy collaborated with many of the island’s leading producers, recording singles for Lee “Scratch” Perry, Sonia Pottinger, Alvin Ranglin, and others. He performed in the U.K. and joined forces with roots reggae outfits such as the Soul Syndicate on 1975’s Dread in a Babylon and with Sly & Robbie the following year on Natty Rebel. Once signed to Virgin Records, his work began reaching listeners beyond Jamaica. In 1978 he started his own sound system, Stur Gav, which became a proving ground for emerging dancehall artists; among those who passed through its ranks were Ranking Joe, Josey Wales, and Shabba Ranks, the latter of whom later brought dancehall to mainstream American audiences with a run of hits in the ’90s.

Although his studio work slowed as he devoted more time to the sound system, U-Roy continued performing and recording through the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s. Projects such as the Errol Holt-produced Serious Matter in 1999 and Pray Fi Di People in 2012 earned praise from dedicated reggae listeners and featured appearances by veterans including Marcia Griffiths and Horace Andy. The final album issued while he was alive, 2018’s Talking Roots, was helmed by Mad Professor and demonstrated that the godfather of deejay culture remained in full command of his skills after more than five decades. U-Roy died on February 17, 2021, at the age of 78. Later that July his last recordings surfaced as Solid Gold U-Roy, a collection originally slated for 2020 that included guest contributions from Santigold, Ziggy Marley, Shaggy, and the Clash’s Mick Jones, among others.