Karen Mason, Jamaican Music Industry Executive, Is Dead

Karen Mason, a well-known Jamaican music industry executive who signed several Reggae and Dancehall artists to Elektra Records in the 1990s, has died.

Mason passed away on March 22, 2022, in Atlanta, Georgia, after a battle with breast cancer, which was diagnosed 11 years ago.

Kenya James confirmed her mother’s death on Facebook.

“My heart is so full right now. The soul you knew as Karen Marie Mason has left the physical realm,” Kenya wrote in part. “As I close my eyes and envision my mother listening to the Reggae and Dancehall classics, a huge smile spans across her face.”

“She is at PEACE! That body – the one with all of that stuff going on with it – is no longer her responsibility. No more pain. No more suffering. She’s free! And I’m happy for her.”

Maxine Stowe, a co-executive producer of Dancehall Reggae Espanol, met Mason while she was at Columbia Records in 1991.

“Karen and I were the only two Jamaican record executives at this period working within the major label industry outside of Chris Blackwell. She was already working in marketing for the Urban Department when I started as A&R/ Artist & Reportoire,” Stowe told DancehallMag.

“Being Jamaican she understood the nuances of marketing from a local Jamaican perspective which majorly included the Diaspora markets to a US major label one. We worked together on Dancehall ReggaeEspanol and more closely when I signed Super Cat at Columbia Records. We continued to collaborate throughout the years,” Stowe said.

Stowe praised Mason’s work and the influence she wielded in the industry.

“She went on to work with Sylvia Rhône at Elektra and was very influential in the Jamaican artist already signed and new signing at that label,” Stowe said.

At Elektra Records, Mason was instrumental in signing Beres Hammond, Nadine Sutherland, and Terror Fabulous.