World of Jamaican Music

Discover artists and hear songs from everyone on the site! Log in to Spotify in this browser to hear full songs. SourcesYour Voice

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

Remembering Derrick Harriott (1939-2026), rocksteady singer and producer. Read his story →

U-Roy

Artist. Reggae

Active
1961-2021
Sunrise
September 21, 1942, Jones Town, Kingston
Sunset
February 17, 2021, Kingston
Also known as
Daddy U-Roy, The Originator

Ewart Beckford, known as U-Roy and called the Originator, made the deejay into a recording artist. The Rough Guide traces the title to the unprecedented popularity of the records he made between 1969 and 1971 and to the influence of his style.

He was born in Jones Town and began on the sound systems around 1961, working Dickie's Dynamic, then Sir George the Atomic, then Coxsone Dodd's Downbeat, where he ran the number two set while King Stitt ran the main one. Count Machuki and Stitt had already established that a deejay could say more than the name of the record; U-Roy made the talking musical, phrasing against the rhythm rather than over it. He did not invent deejaying, NPR's obituary observes, but he became the best at it: his flow was melodic and precisely timed, drew on jazz scat singing, and worked in the spaces of the original song, "filling in the blanks," as Sean Paul put it.

The decisive move was to King Tubby's Hometown Hi-Fi, which Tubby started in 1968. Tubby was cutting discs at Duke Reid's studio and had access to the Treasure Isle masters; dropping the vocal track out of them left space, and U-Roy filled it. A dub plate of the Techniques' "You Don't Care" toasted at a Hometown dance in 1969 is the record of that arrangement working.

His first singles were made elsewhere: "Dynamic Fashion Way" for Keith Hudson in 1969, then "Earth's Rightful Ruler" for Lee Perry, with Peter Tosh. What changed everything was John Holt, who brought him to Duke Reid's attention. Reid opened the Treasure Isle vault, and in early 1970 "Wake the Town," over Alton Ellis's "Girl I've Got a Date," "Rule the Nation" and "Wear You to the Ball" held the top three places on the Jamaican charts at once, for weeks. The album Version Galore collected them.

The 1970s took him abroad: Dread in a Babylon (1975) for Prince Tony Robinson, then Natty Rebel, Rasta Ambassador and Jah Son of Africa, issued through Virgin, and tours of Europe and the United States. He also recorded for Lee Perry, Sonia Pottinger, Bunny Lee and Alvin Ranglin. Among the one-offs of the early 1970s were "Scandal" for Lloyd Daley and "Kingston 12 Shuffle," a toast over the Wailers' "Trench Town Rock" that he cut for Bob Marley without taking a fee, and in 1975 Hall and Oates covered his "Soldering."

By 1977 he had his own sound, King Stur Gav, named for his sons, and it did for the next generation what Tubby's had done for him: Ranking Joe, Charlie Chaplin, Josey Wales, Brigadier Jerry and Jah Screw all came through it. Ranking Joe was its first star, with Jah Screw as selector. After the violent 1980 election, and with both of them gone, the set was out of action for a year; U-Roy relaunched it with Josey Wales and Charlie Chaplin, and in the early 1980s it held its own as a veteran among newer sounds such as Killamanjaro and Black Scorpio. A live album recorded at the Fish Whirl Club at the start of 1983 catches it at its height, and later he took Stur Gav on tour with Wales and Chaplin as live performers.

He was given the Order of Distinction in 2007, made True Born African and Smile a While with Mad Professor in the 1990s and Talking Roots (2018) with him later, and finished Solid Gold U-Roy, a set of duets, shortly before he departed in Kingston at seventy-eight.

The line from what he did to hip hop is short and well documented, running through the Jamaicans who took sound system practice to the Bronx in the 1970s.

Last updated October 31, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. The Rough Guide says he is "often referred to as the 'Originator' because of the unprecedented popularity of his early records and the influence of his style." Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 121.
  2. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 121.
  3. Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 295, has him selecting and occasionally chatting on Dickie Wong's Dickie's Dynamic at the start of the 1960s, on Sir George the Atomic by 1965, and then deejaying Coxsone's number-two set. In his own account, he played the number-two set "because King Stitt was playing the number one," and he dates his move to Sir George to "about 1968," returning there after Coxsone's. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 123. The Guardian gives 1961 for Dickie's and 1965 for Sir George. Peter Mason, "U-Roy obituary," Guardian, February 23, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/feb/23/u-roy-obituary. In a 2012 interview he also names Sir Percy before Tubby's. Angus Taylor, "Interview: U-Roy," United Reggae, December 20, 2012, https://unitedreggae.com/articles/n1195/122012/interview-u-roy.
  4. Bradley describes his "ability to ride a rhythm," calls him "the natural successor to Count Machuki," and notes that King Stitt and Sir Lord Comic were the first deejays on record. Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 294-95. The Rough Guide contrasts his riding of the track "all the way through" with Machuki's interjections, and names Stitt as "the first to have hits." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 121-22.
  5. "U-Roy, Jamaican Vocalist Who Defined Dancehall and Presaged Hip-Hop, Dies at 78," NPR, February 18, 2021, https://www.npr.org/2021/02/18/969292407/u-roy-jamaican-vocalist-who-defined-dancehall-and-presaged-hip-hop-dies-at-78.
  6. Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 295. The Rough Guide dates his joining Tubby to 1969. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 121. The Guardian says he was the main deejay there by 1968. Mason, "U-Roy obituary."
  7. Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 295-96.
  8. Bradley gives Dennis Alcapone's account of the 1969 dance and says the cut "became Home Town's signature tune." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 296-97.
  9. The Rough Guide says he made his first discs in 1969 for Lee Perry, Bunny Lee and Keith Hudson, and that Peter Tosh introduced "Earth's Rightful Ruler." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 79, 123. The Jamaican single of "Dynamic Fashion Way" is credited to Hudson as producer. "U-Roy / Dennis Alcapone - Dynamic Fashion Way / Shades Of Hudson," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/6201388-U-Roy-Dennis-Alcapone-Dynamic-Fashion-Way-Shades-Of-Hudson.
  10. In his own account, Holt heard him "deejaying on one of his records" at a Tubby's dance and told Reid; the record is not named. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 123; Taylor, "Interview: U-Roy." Bradley says Reid already knew of Tubby's dub plates and used Holt as a go-between, and that the wary U-Roy agreed only after pressure from Tubby. Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 297-98. He told Katz the same: "John Holt tell Duke Reid that he come to a dance and he heard me; Duke Reid tell Tubby, 'I want to talk to your DJ.'" David Katz, "The Originator," Wax Poetics, July 27, 2021, https://magazine.waxpoetics.com/article/u-roy-transformed-the-deejay-from-a-toaster-to-a-star/.
  11. The Rough Guide dates his first Reid recordings to "the first months of 1970." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 121. Bradley says the three records held the top three positions on both the JBC and RJR charts "for several weeks." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 298. U-Roy put it at "six weeks on the two stations." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 123. See also Mason, "U-Roy obituary." To Katz he said the three held "number one, two, and three for six weeks," with "Wear You to the Ball" at number one "for twelve weeks." Katz, "The Originator."
  12. The Treasure Isle LP includes "Wear You to the Ball" but neither "Wake the Town" nor "Rule the Nation." "U-Roy - Version Galore," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/622112-U-Roy-Version-Galore. The Guardian dates the album to 1971. Mason, "U-Roy obituary." The Rough Guide notes it as his debut album. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 124. Katz says he voiced "nearly three dozen tracks" for Reid and dates "Version Galore" to 1971 and its sequel, shared with Dennis Alcapone, to 1972. Katz, "The Originator."
  13. The Rough Guide dates these Prince Tony recuts to 1975. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 190. The Virgin LP credits Tony Robinson as producer. "U-Roy - Dread In A Babylon," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/292450.
  14. Virgin issued Natty Rebel (1976) and Rasta Ambassador (1977), and its Front Line label Jah Son of Africa (1978). "U-Roy - Natty Rebel," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/1293159-U-Roy-Natty-Rebel; "U-Roy - Rasta Ambassador," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/865514-U-Roy-Rasta-Ambassador; "U-Roy - Jah Son Of Africa," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/675982-U-Roy-Jah-Son-Of-Africa. Wikipedia dates his first UK tour to 1972, with Roy Shirley and Max Romeo. "U-Roy," Wikipedia, accessed October 5, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-Roy.
  15. The Rough Guide names Perry, Bunny Lee and Ranglin, as well as Glen Brown, Joe Gibbs, Niney Holness and Lloyd Charmers. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 123. Sonia Pottinger appears only in Wikipedia's list. "U-Roy."
  16. U-Roy told Katz that Marley "have his record shop on Beeston Street and called me," and "I never take a penny from him." Katz, "The Originator."
  17. The Rough Guide calls Stur-Gav "in effect the deejay academy" and says Ranking Joe, its "first graduate," deejayed the set during 1977-78, followed by Charlie Chaplin, Josey Wales and Brigadier Jerry. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 189. Bradley lists it among the roots sound systems of the 1970s, "owned and operated by U-Roy." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 302. The Guardian and a 2012 interview give 1978 for its start, and the interview says it was named for his sons. Mason, "U-Roy obituary." Taylor, "Interview: U-Roy." The Rough Guide names Super Cat's sounds as Stur Mars and Killimanjaro. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 302.
  18. Ranking Joe was "so close to U-Roy that the dancehall crowd often never knew when they swapped the mic." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 190. On Jah Screw as selector, see Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 251.
  19. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 258, which says the relaunched set was "one of the most popular sounds of the time," and 248, which lists it among "comparative veterans." Katz says the JLP-affiliated sound "fell prey to sabotage" from PNP partisans, and quotes U-Roy: "Some people that call themselves politicians, they shoot up my dance and take away my sound." Katz, "The Originator."
  20. The Rough Guide says the live album, recorded at the Fish Whirl Club "at the beginning of 1983," with Sugar Minott, Don Carlos and Josey Wales, catches the sound "at the height of its powers," and that U-Roy later "relaunched Stur-Gav Hi Fi tours" with Chaplin and Wales. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 257, 351.
  21. The Guardian reports the Order of Distinction (2007), Talking Roots (2018) and his death at seventy-eight, and says a new album was due later that year. Mason, "U-Roy obituary." Talking Roots was produced by Mad Professor for his Ariwa label. "U-Roy - Talking Roots," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/12151359-U-Roy-Talking-Roots. The duets album appeared on Trojan Jamaica in 2021 as Solid Gold. "U-Roy - Solid Gold," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/21682711-U-Roy-Solid-Gold. Katz credits the Mad Professor albums "True Born African" and "Smile a While" with a 1990s revival of his career, and also gives 2007 for the Order of Distinction. Katz, "The Originator."
  22. Bradley describes the Jamaican sound man Kool Herc, who arrived in New York in 1967 and built "a sound system of Kingstonian proportions," as "universally accredited as one of the founding fathers of hip hop." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 141-42. The Guardian quotes Herc: "the whole chemistry of [hip-hop] came from Jamaica." Mason, "U-Roy obituary."

World of Jamaican Music: the whole map