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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Luciano

Artist. Dancehall, revival

Active
1992-present
Sunrise
October 20, 1964, Davyton, Jamaica
Also known as
The Messenger

Luciano (born Jepther McClymont) is a Jamaican roots singer known as the Messenger. His records for Philip "Fatis" Burrell in the mid-1990s made him the leading voice of the conscious revival that followed Garnett Silk's sunset. Angus Taylor calls him "the smoky voiced singer," and he says he feels most comfortable "on these real roots rhythms."

He was born in Davyton, Manchester, the seventh of nine children in a strict Seventh-day Adventist family. He took his early inspiration from Bob Marley, Dennis Brown and Junior Byles, and first sang in public after moving to Kingston, on the Earth Ruler sound system. He began recording in 1992 as Stepper John, with "Ebony & Ivory" on the Aquarius label, and cut a split album with the deejay Presley for the producer Sky High. His first records under the name Luciano included "Give My Love a Try," made at Castro Brown's New Name studio, and he recorded afterward for Brown, Blacka Dread, Sly and Robbie, and Freddie McGregor, whose Big Ship label released "Shake It Up Tonight," a cover of Cheryl Lynn that was the number one British reggae single of 1993.

He moved to Burrell's Xterminator operation, releasing the singles "Chant Out" and "Poor and Simple" and the album Moving Up late in 1993. His breakthrough came there in 1994, with singles such as "Back to Africa," "Black Survivors" and "One Way Ticket," which made him one of the year's biggest reggae vocalists. Garnett Silk, whom Luciano described as a brother and a forerunner, departed in December 1994, and much of the audience for Rastafari-centered singing turned to him. Where There Is Life, made with Burrell for Chris Blackwell's Island Jamaica in 1995, carried "It's Me Again Jah," a Jamaican number one, and "Who Could It Be"; Messenger followed in 1996, reached the American reggae top ten, and gave him the name he has kept. Dean Fraser played on the Xterminator sessions, as did Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, and the label at that point also carried Sizzla and Mikey General.

He has recorded and toured steadily since, with releases through VP and RAS among others, and holds the Order of Distinction.

Last updated November 5, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. Wikipedia gives October 20, 1964; the Rough Guide gives "b. Jepther McClymont, 1974, Davey Town." "Luciano (Jamaican Singer)," Wikipedia, accessed October 2, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luciano_(Jamaican_singer). Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 361. Bradley's account, that his father died when he was eleven and "Now, twelve years later, he's a devout Rastafari," also implies a man in his twenties when the book was written. Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 533.
  2. The Rough Guide calls him "a major figure in the development of modern roots" and Burrell "one of the most progressive" producers of the period. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 361, 362. Bradley calls him "the very model of how an artist can bring consciousness to dancehall." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 533.
  3. Angus Taylor, "Interview: Luciano," United Reggae, September 7, 2010, https://unitedreggae.com/articles/n453/090710/interview-luciano.
  4. Wikipedia gives Davyton and "the seventh of nine children in a strict Adventist family." "Luciano (Jamaican Singer)." Bradley also describes "a strict Adventist family in Manchester." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 533.
  5. Katz calls him "the most impressive figure" among the Rastafari singers of the period and traces the "country-gospel feel" of his delivery to rural Manchester. David Katz, "Zion in a Vision: Jamaica's '90s Rasta Renaissance," Red Bull Music Academy Daily, April 22, 2014, https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2014/04/rasta-renaissance-feature.
  6. Wikipedia. "Luciano (Jamaican Singer)." The Rough Guide says he "started out in 1992, with releases on Hartnol 'Sky High' Henry's Mau Mau label and then with Castro Brown's New Name outfit." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 361.
  7. Wikipedia calls it "the 1993 no. 1 UK reggae hit." "Luciano (Jamaican Singer)." The Rough Guide says he "recorded with Freddie McGregor's Big Ship label" in 1993 and calls "Shake It Up Tonight" "one of his most successful records to date in the UK." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 362, 364.
  8. The Rough Guide says Burrell "chose to develop the roots side of the singer, beginning with sides like 'Chant Out' and 'Poor & Simple'." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 363. Wikipedia dates Moving Up to late 1993. "Luciano (Jamaican Singer)."
  9. Katz, "Zion in a Vision." Luciano told Katz that on "Moving Up" "you could not hear much of a concentrated production, as opposed to Where There Is Life, so you realise that Fatis had grown, and I had grown with Fatis."
  10. Wikipedia quotes him: "Garnett was more like a brother, a father, a tutor, a forerunner," and says that after Silk's death "many looked to Luciano to continue consciousness in reggae music." "Luciano (Jamaican Singer)."
  11. The Rough Guide lists Where There Is Life on Xterminator in Jamaica and Island Jamaica in Britain and says "'It's Me Again Jah' topped the Jamaican charts." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 365. Wikipedia says the title track of Messenger "earned him his enduring nickname," and that the album reached the top ten of Billboard's Top Reggae Albums chart. "Luciano (Jamaican Singer)." "Messenger (Luciano Album)," Wikipedia, accessed October 2, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messenger_(Luciano_album).
  12. The Rough Guide says Burrell used "the master drummer Sly Dunbar and the Firehouse Crew to build its rhythms" and featured Dean Fraser, names Sizzla and Mikey General on the label, and says Mikey General and Luciano stayed with Burrell "until the close of 1998." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 362.
  13. Wikipedia gives the Officer class, awarded October 15, 2007. "Luciano (Jamaican Singer)." The Rough Guide notes the Qabalah label he formed with Mikey General. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 364.

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