A Toast To Daddy U-Roy: 10 Facts For The Reggae And Dancehall Icon’s Final Farewell
Ewart ‘U-Roy’ Beckford spent his glorious sixty-year career blazing a lyrical trail to global stardom. The late Jamaican deejay was a pioneer of the “toasting” style, a mashup of melodic scatting and vocal artistry. His stylish spin on the craft kept people gyrating, inspired generations and created the blueprint for brand new genres.
Although he didn’t invent toasting — the patter and chatter heard on pared-down instrumentals and song transitions — U-Roy was a significant cog in the wheel between sound systems and contemporary expressions like hip hop and dancehall.
U-Roy distilled what we now know as deejaying into a hitmaking formula. He provided a lasting framework for a slew of acts, from rap contributors like the Trenchtown born DJ Kool Herc, to Grammy-winning uptown prodigy Sean Paul.
As the world bids U-Roy the final farewell today, DancehallMag is ‘toasting the Toaster’, paying homage as we ‘Give Thanks To The King’ of all deejays.
Here’s ten facts about the inventive jive-talker from Jones Town.
1. The Godfather
U-Roy, the Jamaican icon, is hailed as hip hop’s inventor. It’s widely known that reggae birthed ska, rocksteady and dancehall, and it’s also made significant strides across the waters. U-Roy’s infectious delivery expanded the role of a deejay from hypeman to frontman and popularized toasting, chatting and chanting over a beat, essentially “an ancestor to modern Rap” according to TeachRock.org.
Early hip hop influencers such as Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash (It’s like a jungle sometimes that makes me wonder how I keep from going under – The Message), Kurtis Blow (Clap your hands everybody if you’ve got what it takes – The Breaks) and The Sugarhill Gang (I said-a hip, hop, the hippie, the hippie, to the hip hip hop – Rapper’s Delight) who talked to a rhythm are greatly indebted to U-Roy, the Originator.
With his engaging rhymes, repetition, slurs and squeals, U-Roy is the forerunner to those founding fathers.
From his “Chicka Bow Wow Wow” catchphrase, to lyrics like “Sweat baby sweat but never you fret” – Rule The Nation, “Proud to be black and that’s a natural fact” – Hold On, and “If you can’t be good you got be careful, here come my cheerful little earful” – Never Make You Blue, fans the world over grew fond of his unmistakable stylings.
Upon U-Roy’s passing, The Roots’ Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson paid tribute to “the god of toasting,” adding that “without him we wouldn’t have the concept of hip-hop.”
It seems his pioneering efforts won’t be lost in the annals of history either. U-Roy’s new album, Gold: The Man Who Invented Rap, is set for release in the summer of 2021. Recorded in 2019, the project features the likes of Shaggy, Santigold, Ziggy Marley, and Zak Starkey on guitar, among others.
2. The Godfather II
U-Roy is also hailed as the inventor of dancehall.
U-Roy was deejaying before the term was coined or even ascribed to verbal improvisations. His gaining traction in terrain previously worked by toasters Count Matchuki, King Stitt and Sir Lord Comic gave way to a wider audience for the art form, and inspired a slew of hopefuls: Dennis Alcapone, Scotty, Lizzy, Big Youth, U-Roy Junior, I-Roy and many more.
DJ Dennis Alcapone recalled the night in 1969 when, as he put it, “dancehall was really born”. As the top DJ of King Tubby’s Hometown Hi-Fi sound system, U-Roy’s jive-drenched intros quickly stole the show and got folks on their feet. “Tubby and U Roy open normally but when U-Roy drop in the remix version of (The Techniques’) You Don’t Care, the crowd went wild and the place “mash up”,” Alcapone said in Reggae Routes: The Story of Jamaican Music.
These antics were described by Billboard as “inspired, lyrical, goofy and always swinging toasts”, and they were overshadowing and transcending the sound system itself.
U-Roy’s spin on street talk, urging the crowd’s attention with signature utterances translated to modern takes such as Popcaan’s “Woyoii”, Sean Paul’s “Budda-Bang-Bang” and even Vybz Kartel’s haughty, high-pitched ‘cough’.
“Before U-Roy, no one was toasting on records and filling in the blanks,” Sean Paul told NPR, in an outpouring of sadness at the deejay’s passing. “The little ad libs on [Sia’s 2016 No. 1 hit “Cheap Thrills”], the budda-bang-bang, I learned that from him. He’s someone who every deejay should look up to – and I do.”
U Roy also popularized ‘combination’ songs, those matching deejays with singers like his remake of Hopeton Lewis’ Tom Drunk. It’s a style that delivered some of the most epic joint racks as time went on, including Shaggy and Rik Rok’s It Wasn’t Me.
3. Come Een Wid A Force
U-Roy wasn’t the first toaster, but he migrated the art form from the rocking dance hall space into the recording studio. After he was discovered by John Holt (lead vocalist of the Paragons) on King Tubby’s sound system toasting over a Duke Reid track, U-Roy was invited to Reid’s Treasure Isle studio to stamp his scatting on vinyl.
“I’m the first man who put D.J. rap on wax, you know,” he told Tokyo’s The Daily Yomiuri during his 2006 tour.
U-Roy then took toasting beyond the booth with a series of successful singles on the Treasure Isle label. The new approach to production inspired a rush of producers vying for top talent among the up-and-comers, and suddenly, a viable business model was born. “Before that, the DJ business was not something that people take seriously,” U-Roy told the LA Times. “People weren’t really used to this stuff.”
DJ Dennis Alcapone said in his Trojan Records biography, “People who owned record shops in those days licked their fingers. On a weekend, they know they could sell 10,000 U Roy [records]. People line up outside Duke Reid’s studio, waiting for the record to come off the press.”
U-Roy’s sense of timing, rhyming and melody led to vital recordings and ultimately, an internationally acclaimed catalogue. “It’s U Roy bring in that style and it became the future,” said producer and selector Lloyd “King Jammys” James of his colleague and friend.
4. Hat Trick
By 1970, U-Roy was signed to Duke Reid’s Treasure Isle label. His first feat was a hat trick, the likes of which has hardly been seen since. U-Roy released a string of consecutive hit singles — Wake the Town, Rule the Nation and Wear You to the Ball — that immediately locked down the top three spots on the Jamaican charts for a history-making six weeks.
The breakthrough along with the buzz behind his debut album, Version Galore, established U-Roy as bankable Reggae royalty from that point on. He would eventually sign with Virgin Records, and release Dread In A Babylon, a career boost and commercial success now regarded as a classic.
Music critics have noted that even Bob Marley never achieved similar chart action, and as U-Roy’s label Trojan Records put it, the feat “had hardly been seen anywhere in the world since the Beatles occupied the entire US Top 5 at the onset of American Beatlemania. U Roy had arrived.”
5. Class Act
U-Roy’s career began at the age of 19 in 1961, and he bounced around several sound systems in the 60’s searching for his big break. When he graduated to greener pastures many years later in 1978, U-Roy established his own Stur-Gav sound system, named after two of his sons. It proved a timely endeavour, arriving as the electronic beats of emerging dancehall took hold as the sound of Jamaica.
The Teacher would nurture many of the new generation stars, among them Charlie Chaplin, Jah Screw, Josey Wales, Ranking Joe, Tenor Saw (Ring The Alarm), Super Cat (Dem No Worry We) and Shabba Ranks (Twice My Age).
The venture also meant U-Roy officially moved away from his role of merely introducing and hyping up tracks as a DJ, to selector duties — actually choosing the records. By 1986, he had shifted with the times, recording his Dancehall album, Line Up and Come, with producer Tappa Zukie, all while rising stars like Yellowman and Eek-A-Mouse hailed him as an influence.
The impresario recalled those years where he paid it forward and played his own music as the “biggest fun” of his life.
“Putting on the records myself, picking my own selection, trust me, I loved that from my heart man. That was exactly why I had to have a sound system of my own instead of just playing others. I have to lift my hat to sound system because without sound system I don’t think people would know anything about me,” he told United Reggae.
6. Top Ranking
U-Roy was called by many names throughout his tenure — the Teacher, Originator and “Ace of The Dancehall Space” according to professors Jalani and Sonjah Stanley Niaah.
Daddy U-Roy also became an ‘Officer’ in 2007. In proper adulation, the elder received the National Order Of Distinction that year in the rank of Officer for his impact on Jamaican music.
British reggae aficionado David Rodigan who is also highly decorated in his home country said he was “always in awe of” U-Roy.
Expressing his condolences, Rodigan who was awarded the MBE — The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for contributions to the arts and public service — wrote: “RIP Daddy U Roy the iconic toaster who changed the paradigm of Jamaican music when he voiced the ‘Version Galore’ album…the tone of voice, the cadence, the lyrical shimmering and riddim riding made him ‘the soul adventurer’. Heartbroken. RIP.”
RIP Daddy U Roy the iconic toaster who changed the paradigm of Jamaican music when he voiced the ‘Version Galore’ album …I was always in awe of him; the tone of voice, the cadence, the lyrical shimmering and riddim riding made him ‘the soul adventurer’ 🎙 pic.twitter.com/t9n4SNkEzr
— David Rodigan (@DavidRodigan) February 18, 2021
U-Roy has already received his first posthumous trophy after being awarded this year’s Icon awards from The Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA).
The Worldwide Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMA) has also introduced a new award in honour of the late heavyweight. The U-Roy Award for Finest Male DJ/Rapper will be presented for the first time during the virtual ceremony on Sunday May 2.
7. Dynamic Fashion Way
It goes without saying that U-Roy was cut from a different cloth, but few have explored that the extent of his influence also includes attire. Long before Beenie Man or Bounty Killer donned Gucci and Fendi (respectively) before Verzuz viewers, Daddy U-Roy was showing youngsters the ropes on trendy threads.
His outfits were as swank as his lyrical material, and multi-coloured jackets, bowler hats, rasta coloured boots and corduroy track suits were a signature touch to his captivating stagecraft.
Beenie Man, who’s known for his sartorial taste, told The Star years ago that he took his cues from his elders who regularly clashed at the Lee’s Unlimited sound system. “Dem man deh have on some pants with belly-band, tuxedo and tie and bere tings – well swags!” he said.
Not surprisingly, U-Roy was also closely associated with Lee’s Unlimited and by extension, the nascent Dude deejay. In 1983, U-Roy released the King Stur-Gav Hi Fi Lee Unlimited album, a live session suite recorded with the most promising acts of the day, from Dillinger the Funky Punk to the young Beenie Man, who contributed the track Tell You Weh Mi Know.
The Tear Off Mi Garment deejay also told The Star “[if] you want to be an artiste, you have to dress like an artiste. You have to look the part. As an artiste, you have to do different from everybody else.”
U-Roy’s aesthetic complemented his cool, composed swagger, a trait that left an impression on comrades and future generations alike. Jamaican rhythm guitarist Tony Chin said fondly of his late friend, “One of the most humblest, nicest artist we have ever work with, always on time and dresses very sharp, so much fun to be around, I could go on and on but see you in heaven one day.”
8. Version Galore…
Both the man himself and his impeccable body of work, are deserving of veneration. U-Roy’s uniquely rhythmic classics have been sampled across nearly every genre and his first major hit, Wake The Town, has its own cult following.
Like the title aptly suggests, his 1969 hit perked up the Jamaican populace on the arrival of a new phenomenon.
In his Trojan Records biography, Dennis Alcapone said the record “sold like hot bread” and that it was like a new Jamaica had been born. It’s a sentiment the singer also echoed: “All of a sudden, Jamaica awoke one morning and U-Roy was everywhere…” read the original album liner notes for his classic reggae LP Version Galore.
Several modern works draw on the original – podcasts, art exhibitions, book titles, and of course, song samples; more than 20 of them in total.
What’s more, U Roy’s voice and inflections are retained on almost every one of them, proving the maestro’s ceaseless calibre.
Wake The Town famously appears as the intro and looping echo on Dawn Penn’s 1994 floorfiller “You Don’t Love Me (No, No, No)“. It was also sampled on Good Night by rap mogul Kanye West, on the lo-fi hip hop cut The Saga Continues by Aceyalone feat. Abstract Rude, and the lovers rock remake of Alicia Keys’ 2007 hit No One feat Damian Marley, among others.
“Wake the Town And Tell The People” is also the title of a comprehensive text on dancehall culture in Jamaica by anthropologist Norman Stolzoff. What better way to frame the “informative, and immersive account of how, why, and where Reggae music is really happening”, than to name it after the track most frequently pegged to the phenomenon.
9. The ‘Rightful Ruler’
One of U-Roy’s first singles was Earth’s Rightful Ruler, a Peter Tosh feature that got little traction at the time. Things have a way of working out however, and in 2019, exactly fifty years later, Daddy U-Roy was ceremoniously crowned ‘The Godfather’ of Reggae Dancehall’ during the 10th anniversary of Reeewind, a vintage Reggae/Dancehall stage show in New York.
Rory Gilligan of Stone Love fame, DJ Johnny from Bodyguard Sound System and U-Roy’s own Stur-Gav setup were among the selectors in attendance for U-Roy’s surprise coronation.
One of U-Roy’s protégés, The Dancehall Emperor, Shabba Ranks had the supreme honour of crowning his mentor, the man he called “the Picasso of our music”. In his homage paying hit “Respect”, Shabba spits, “Just cool, cool/ U-Roy done rule/ U-Roy a godfather of the deejay school”, and his praises weren’t in short supply during the full circle moment either.
“You are the Godfather of the music, the Godfather who set it, the foundational, the aspirational, the inspirational, the one and only, the greatest DJj of all time,” Shabba said to a tearful U-Roy before scores of cheering fans.
10. Top 10 U-Roy Songs
We’ve done our best to eulogize, but as they say the proof is in the pudding. Here’s ten of the U-Roy’s best known and most loved hits, whether you’re already seasoned to the Toaster or just getting familiar with the Natty Rebel.
- Wear You To The Ball
- Wake The Town
- Rule The Nation
- Gorgon Wise
- Too Much War
- King Tubby Skank
- I Shall Not Be Moved
- The Originator
- Super Boss
- Every Knee Shall Bow
U-Roy took the advent of toasting across the airwaves to the world at large. The modest deejay expanded musical horizons, entertaining for decades as he became endeared to millions of loyal fans. Dub, reggae and dancehall trace back to his revolutionary toaster’s touch and as wbur.org stated “he didn’t [only] change the face of reggae music, he changed the soul.”
DancehallMag extends condolences to U-Roy’s family as well as gratitude to his widow for her correspondence during this difficult time. Walk good Daddy U-Roy. British Rapper Ghostpoet was right when he wrote in tribute, “They ain’t ready for your toasting in heaven.”