Yvad

Born as Kevin Davy, the Jamaican artist benefited from Bob Marley’s longstanding desire to nurture emerging talent at Tuff Gong Studios, where earlier protégés such as Tyrone Taylor, Junior Tucker, Diana King and Nadine Sutherland had also received guidance; Yvad joined this lineage as one of the label’s more recent signings. His first single, “We Need Love,” appeared on the Tuff Gong imprint yet failed to register on the charts. Impressed by the track, Washington-based RAS Records offered a contract that resulted in the album Young Gifted And Dread. Additional visibility followed through American television outlets, with videos aired on both MTV and Black Entertainment Television. To further promote the record, he joined fellow RAS artists Israel Vibration as a support act on their United States tour.