Big Youth

A cabbie turned disc jockey, Big Youth was Jamaica's most popular "toaster" (a disc jockey who ad libs over instrumental tracks) in the '70s. His early records featured rhymes, doggerel, and scat singing over previously released tunes by other artists remixed to cut out the original vocals and bring out the bass and drums. Big Youth's style influenced the early rappers, who adapted his Caribbean methods to the inner city. Like his first hit, "Ace 90 Skank" (1972), his songs frequently dealt with current events: When a heavyweight boxing championship was fought in Kingston in 1973, Youth took to the airwaves with “George Foreman” and “Foreman and Frazier.” Big Youth later adopted Rastafarianism as his religion, and his songs took on weightier topics, as in “House of Dreadlocks” and “Natty Cultural Dread.” He also began writing his own music, recording with a band and singing in a high, breathy croon rather than toasting. “When Revolution Come,” produced by Prince Buster, was his first of many Jamaican chart-toppers in the mid-’70s. He performs periodically in the U.S. and Great Britain, and appears at the annual Reggae Sunsplash festival.

from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001)