King Sporty
Encyclopedia
King Sporty is a Jamaica
n DJ
, reggae
musician
, and record producer
for the Tashamba and Konduko labels
. He is best known for co-authoring
the Bob Marley
song
, "Buffalo Soldier
".
sideman
under Clement Dodd's tutelage at Studio One. In 1965 he released the track "El Cid", credited to King Sporty and Justin Yap.
In 1977 Sporty released an album
, Mr. Rhythm on his own Konduko label.
He later moved to Miami
, Florida
and began producing music
there under his Tashamba and Konduko labels. He evolved from reggae to funk
to disco
to electro to Miami bass
between the 1970s and 1980s. Sporty found lasting hits
in the electro funk canon with Connie Case's "Get on Down" and "Haven't Been Funked Enough", under his Ex Tras moniker when he made licensing deals with Tommy Boy Records
in 1982.
After many years off, Sporty returned to producing electro and his Sporty moniker, with his track "Computer Age", credited to Sporty and the Laptop.
Sporty is married
to the American
soul and rhythm and blues
singer, Betty Wright
.
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
for the Tashamba and Konduko labels
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
. He is best known for co-authoring
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
the Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
, "Buffalo Soldier
Buffalo Soldier (song)
"Buffalo Soldier" is a reggae song written by Bob Marley and Noel G. "King Sport" Williams from Marley's final recording sessions in 1980. It did not appear on record until the 1983 posthumous release of Confrontation, when it became one of Marley's best-known songs.The title and lyrics refer to...
".
Biography
In his early days Sporty rose to become a studioRecording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
sideman
Sideman
A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform or record with a group of which he or she is not a regular member. They often tour with solo acts as well as bands and jazz ensembles. Sidemen are generally required to be adaptable to many different styles of music, and so able to fit...
under Clement Dodd's tutelage at Studio One. In 1965 he released the track "El Cid", credited to King Sporty and Justin Yap.
In 1977 Sporty released an album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Mr. Rhythm on his own Konduko label.
He later moved to Miami
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and began producing music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
there under his Tashamba and Konduko labels. He evolved from reggae to funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
to disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
to electro to Miami bass
Miami bass
Miami bass , is a type of hip hop music, that became popular in the 1980s and 1990s. Its roots are directly linked to the Electro-funk sound of the early 1980s, pioneered by Afrika Bambataa & The Soulsonic Force and later on by UK-based musician Paul Hardcastle...
between the 1970s and 1980s. Sporty found lasting hits
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
in the electro funk canon with Connie Case's "Get on Down" and "Haven't Been Funked Enough", under his Ex Tras moniker when he made licensing deals with Tommy Boy Records
Tommy Boy Records
Tommy Boy Entertainment is an independent record label started in 1981 by Tom Silverman.-History:...
in 1982.
After many years off, Sporty returned to producing electro and his Sporty moniker, with his track "Computer Age", credited to Sporty and the Laptop.
Sporty is married
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
to the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soul and rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
singer, Betty Wright
Betty Wright
Bessie Regina Norris, better known by her stage name, Betty Wright , is a Grammy winning Miami-based soul and R&B singer-songwriter, who won fame in the 1970s with hits such as "Clean Up Woman" and "Tonight Is the Night"...
.
Group names used
- King Sporty & The Root Rockers
- King Sporty And The Ex Tras
- Noel Williams & The Extra Funk Factory
- Sporty & The Laptop