U-Roy’s Delayed Funeral Taking An Emotional Toll On His Family

Marcia Smikle, the partner of late veteran toaster Ewart ‘U-Roy’ Beckford, is worried that the COVID-19 pandemic may frustrate the hopes of the family to ensure that the artist gets the send-off befitting of his status as a cultural icon.

“It rests on me, you know when you want to get over something, but you can’t get it done? Every time mi siddown, I think about it. The whole thing come in  a way ’cause him no bury yet, it ah tek a toll on me and the family,” Smikle told DancehallMag.

U-Roy, fondly known as the ‘Godfather of the Dancehall’, died on February 17. The original plan was to have his body lie in state at National Arena on March 25 followed by a viewing at Perry’s Funeral Home on March 28. These plans have since had to be revised.

Smikle recently met with Daddy U-Roy’s daughter, Dawan Beckford, to hammer out plans for the funeral.

“I am working with his daughter, the whole family is unified in the wish to make sure that he has a great send off. We’re just waiting until this thing is over. If the government extends the date beyond the April 13th date, we may have to work with the government protocols. U-Roy had a lot of fans and they were looking forward to seeing him one last time, but if the COVID not getting any better, we may just have to wait until a more appropriate time, we just don’t know yet,” she said.

Daddy U-Roy is survived by 16 children. Smikle, who is in her 60s, had lived with the artist for 41 years. They didn’t conceive any children together, but he raised Smikle’s child – from a previous relationship – as his own.

On March 25, Jamaican PM Andrew Holness announced that until April 13, all burials will have to be conducted on weekdays between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. and that no more than 15 persons can be present. In addition, a burial cannot be longer than half an hour.

“The 30 minutes from the morgue to the cemetery during the week is rough, and that cannot work with a man of his stature, this virus mess up everything, but  we have to work with the protocols, I am committed to following the law,” she said.

Perry’s Funeral Home will be handling the burial of the Godfather of Dancehall.

U-Roy was the first toaster to popularize the form through a series of successful releases on the Duke Reid label gaining a wider audience for toasting. This approach to production and the remixing of previously recorded tracks with a new vocal influenced the early hip-hop pioneers such as Kool Herc.

He is best known for the singles, Wake the Town and Wear You to the Ball, both of which were released on Duke Reid’s Treasure Isle label. He was conferred an Order of Distinction for his contribution to Jamaican music. U Roy’s most recent album is Pray Fi Di People which was released in 2012.