World of Jamaican Music

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An illustrated map of the creators of Jamaican music and how they are connected.

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Kiddus I

Artist. Reggae

Active
1973-present
Sunrise
1944
Also known as
The Singing Priest

Kiddus I (born Frank Louis Dowding Jr. in St. Mary) is a singer whose recorded output is small and whose place in the music is largely a matter of where he stood: at the center of a Kingston scene that met at his gate, and in front of a camera for four minutes of Rockers. Angus Taylor calls the voice "as cool as any jazz crooner's yet as ancient as the sea breaking on the sand."

He came from a middle-class family, his father a bookkeeper, and took the name Kiddus, Amharic for blessed one, on becoming a Rastafarian. In 1971 he set up a Rastafarian commune and craft center at Oxford Road, on the line between uptown and downtown Kingston, which made it one of the few places in the city where the two met. Jacob Miller, Gregory Isaacs, Third World, and the members of Zap Pow were among those who passed through, and it was Isaacs who pushed him to record. From 1971 to 1978 he sang and played funde with Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus.

He recorded self-productions with Aston Barrett at Joe Gibbs's studio in 1972 that were never issued for want of money, and later released a handful of singles on his own Shepherd label. "Security in the Streets" was cut with Lee Perry at the Black Ark, and belongs to the wave of records made in support of the 1978 peace treaty between Claudie Massop and Bucky Marshall; Dowding was prominent in the Peace Movement. In 1976 he arranged interviews for Reggae Bloodlines, one of the first American books on the music.

That same year Theodoros Bafaloukos saw him voicing "Graduation in Zion" and, two years later, built a scene of Rockers around him recording it. The session was Jack Ruby's and the room was Harry J's. The film scene, rather than any release, is what made the song known.

An album's masters were lost, and little was heard from him until the French label Makasound issued his Inna de Yard set in 2005, part of the acoustic series recorded in Earl "Chinna" Smith's yard. Dub Store reissued the singles, and the anthology Graduation in Zion: 1978-1980 appeared in 2007. He has performed steadily since.

Last updated November 5, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. Wikipedia, citing David Katz's People Funny Boy, gives his birth name and December 1944. "Kiddus I," Wikipedia, accessed October 2, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiddus_I. Taylor calls "Graduation in Zion" "the one for which he is remembered, thanks to the movie." Angus Taylor, "Interview: Kiddus I in Kingston (Part 1)," United Reggae, January 26, 2016, https://unitedreggae.com/articles/n2038/012616/interview-kiddus-i-in-kingston-part-1. The Observer called him 69 in May 2013, which does not fit a December birth. Howard Campbell, "Kiddus-I survives in Topsy Turvy World," Jamaica Observer, May 9, 2013, https://jamaicaobserver.com/2013/05/08/kiddus-i-survives-in-topsy-turvy-world.
  2. Angus Taylor, "Interview: Kiddus I in Kingston (Part 1)," United Reggae, January 26, 2016, https://unitedreggae.com/articles/n2038/012616/interview-kiddus-i-in-kingston-part-1.
  3. Wikipedia, citing Katz, gives his father's occupation and the meaning of the name. "Kiddus I."
  4. He recalled "1c Oxford Road which was where Mas Camp came out of," a place "where downtown would come and fraternise with uptown." Taylor, "Interview: Kiddus I in Kingston." Wikipedia, citing Katz, dates the commune to 1971. "Kiddus I."
  5. He told Peter I that from 1971 until about 1977, when the buildings were torn down, Zap Pow and Ras Michael were "stationed there," and that Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, John Holt, Bunny Rugs, and Jacob Miller came through. Kiddus I, interview by Peter I, "Interview with Kiddus I: Security in the Streets," reposted from Reggae Vibes on Sound System Culture, accessed October 2, 2026, https://soundsystemculture.org/interview-with-kiddus-i-security-in-the-streets/.
  6. He told Taylor he joined Ras Michael "in about '71ish" and that they "played together until about '78." Taylor, "Interview: Kiddus I in Kingston." Wikipedia, citing the Graduation in Zion sleeve notes, adds the funde drums. "Kiddus I."
  7. He told Peter I that his first sessions, "at Joe Gibbs," were cut with Family Man Barrett in 1972 and not released. Kiddus I, interview by Peter I. Wikipedia, citing Katz, gives lack of funds as the reason. "Kiddus I."
  8. He told Peter I that he recorded "Security" at the Black Ark "in '78 after the Peace Treaty" and issued it on his own Shepherd label. Kiddus I, interview by Peter I. Wikipedia, citing Katz, calls it one of the first songs recorded in support of the treaty. "Kiddus I."
  9. Campbell says Kiddus got the part through an "on-spot 'audition'" at Harry J's, "where he was doing a Jack Ruby session," when Ruby and Bafaloukos walked in during "Graduation in Zion." Howard Campbell, "Still Rocking at 35," Jamaica Observer, August 17, 2013, https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2013/08/17/still-rocking-at-35/. Wikipedia, citing AllMusic, says Bafaloukos saw the session in 1976, two years before filming. "Kiddus I."
  10. Kiddus told Campbell that "a part wasn't written for I an' I to start wid." Howard Campbell, "Still Rocking at 35," Jamaica Observer, August 17, 2013, https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2013/08/17/still-rocking-at-35/. Taylor notes that most of his other songs "have not made it to the public ear." Taylor, "Interview: Kiddus I in Kingston."
  11. Taylor dates the Dub Store reissue and the Makasound Inna De Yard set to 2007; Wikipedia gives 2005 for Inna De Yard. Taylor, "Interview: Kiddus I in Kingston."; "Kiddus I."

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