Beenie Man Biography

MAWGA K June 27, 2013 0

Anthony Moses Davis, better known by his stage name Beenie Man, was born in the Waterhouse district of Kingston in 1973. He started toasting at the age of five, and was encouraged by his uncle Sydney Wolf, who played drums for Jimmy Cliff. He won the Tastee Talent contest in 1981, and Radio DJ Barry G introduced him to local sound system operators, who helped to establish the popularity of the young deejay, who became known as Beenie Man. He recorded his debut single, Too Fancy, with record producer Henry “Junjo” Lawes in 1981, with Lawes also including him on the 1983 album Junjo Presents Two Big Sounds. His debut album, The Invincible Beenie Man: The Ten Year Old DJ Wonder was produced by Bunny Lee and released in 1983; his first hit single Over the Sea followed in the same year. In 1984 Beenie Man recorded some material with Barrington Levy (released ten years later), but his musical career was put on hold while he finished school

Beenie Man returned to performing and honing his craft, eventually finding his artistic home at the Shocking Vibes studio where he continued to record singles. His career gained momentum after a performance at the Reggae Sunsplash festival in 1992. Beenie Man had his first number one single in Jamaica in 1993 with Matie, and he won the DJ of the Year Award the same year, the first of eight consecutive awards.

In 1994, not only did Beenie Man record versions of Bob Marley’s No Woman No Cry and Crazy Baldhead for esteemed producers Sly and Robbie, he also began to fully embrace the spiritual influences of his Rastafari livelihood that was introduced to him at the age of 10 when he was baptised in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. He was signed by Island Records that same year and released the critically acclaimed album, Blessed that established his reputation internationally.

Collaborations were plentiful in 1995 with Beenie Man recording well received singles with many artists including, Lieutenant Stitchie, Lady Saw and Sanchez. He took another step up the ladder in 1996, releasing the seminal Maestro, produced by Patrick Roberts that shot him to UK fame. During the period from the mid to late 1990s, Beenie Man dominated the Jamaican charts to the extent that he perhaps had a good claim to the crown of “Dancehall King”, a title only bestowed previously on Yellowman in the early 1980s. Beenie Man’s first real break in the United States came in 1997. He heard an instrumental rhythm by Sean Paul’s producer, Jeremy Harding, and demanded to add his voice to the rhythm. So this was the birth of his first international hit; he recorded Who Am I and the single quickly went Gold. It opened the doors for the world to see a new reggae star in the pages of Newsweek and other major media outlets. The same year, Beenie Man topped the Jamaican singles chart with seven different singles.

In 1998, Beenie Man headlined Reggae Sunsplash and signed to Virgin Records to release albums in the United States. His first American offering was The Doctor. Beenie Man began his conquest of America with the hits, Romie, Who Am I, and Girls Dem Sugar. During this time he received an impressive number of international music awards including a MOBO Award for Best International Reggae Act in 1998. Beenie Man released Art & Life, that featured Arturo Sandoval and Wyclef Jean, for which he received a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.

Beenie Man was unstoppable, whether on his own or with other artists, and at times the Jamaican chart seemed to be the DJ’s private preserve. Hot Bwoy with Buccaneer, Mi Nu Walla, Forget You, Ruff Like We with Redrose, 100 Dollar Bag, In This Together, Skettel Tune with Angel Doolas, and L.O.Y. are just a sampling of the singles the DJ released between 1999 and 2000

The new century saw Beenie Man reunited with Wyclef Jean behind the mixing board to produce the debut album by actor Steven Seagal. In 2002 Beenie Man released the sizeable hit Feel It Boy, a duet with Janet Jackson, but his biggest break in America came in early 2004 with the release of a remix of Dude. Beenie Man has a seemingly unending cache of lyrical brilliance, energy and artistic might that keeps him creating hit after hit right up until today. Number one singles galore include the 2008 Let Him Go, 2011 hit Lets Go, the 2012 rocking Clean Heart and the 2013 release Hottest Man Alive.

 

 

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