Massive Dread
Encyclopedia
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...
deejay
Deejay
A deejay is a reggae or dancehall musician who sings and toasts to an instrumental riddim .Deejays are not to be confused with disc jockeys from other music genres like hip-hop, where they select and play music. Dancehall/reggae DJs who select riddims to play are called selectors...
who first recorded in the late 1970s for Tapper Zukie
Tapper Zukie
Tapper Zukie is a reggae deejay and producer.-Biography:Tapper was the nickname given to him by his grandmother in his youth, while Zukie was a name that came from his friends' association as a young boy - their gang was called 'The Zukies'.In 1973 his mother, concerned with Zukie's tendency to...
, and came to prominence in the early 1980s, touring with Byron Lee
Byron Lee
Byron Lee OD, OJ was a musician, record producer, and entrepreneur, best known for his work as leader of Byron Lee and the Dragonaires.-Biography:Lee was born in Christiana in Manchester Parish to an Afro-Jamaican mother and a Chinese father Byron Lee OD, OJ (born Byron Aloysius St. Elmo Lee, 27...
and The Dragonaires. Dread also worked on Peter Metro
Peter Metro
Peter Metro is a reggae deejay, who released five albums in the 1980s.-Biography:Initially performing under the name Peter Ranking, he changed his name when he discovered that another deejay was using that name, and since he was resident deejay on the Metromedia sound system, he chose the name...
's Metromedia sound system.
Biography
He introduced the "bubbling" style of delivery, which was well received by audiences at events such as Reggae SunsplashReggae Sunsplash
Reggae Sunsplash is a reggae music festival first staged in 1978 in the northern part of Jamaica. In 1985 it expanded with the addition of an international touring festival...
, and his album Strictly...Bubbling (on The Wailing Souls
The Wailing Souls
The Wailing Souls are a Jamaican reggae vocal group still recording and performing live, whose origins date back to the 1960s.-Career:They have recorded with many top Jamaican record producers including Coxsone Dodd of Studio One, Lloyd "King Jammy" James, Henry "Junjo" Lawes, Delroy Wilson and...
' The Up Front Organization label, and produced by Tommy Cowan
Tommy Cowan
Tommy Cowan is a producer and singer, initially working in reggae but later concentrating on gospel, who has been involved in the music business since the 1960s...
's wife Velerie) capitalized on his popularity, including Jamaican chart-toppers such as "This Is Massive". Dread's links to The Wailing Souls saw him appear on a Tyne Tees Television
Tyne Tees Television
Tyne Tees Television is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. As of 2009, it forms part of a non-franchise ITV Tyne Tees & Border region, shared with the ITV Border region...
documentary on reggae which was broadcast on The Tube
The Tube (TV series)
The Tube was an innovative United Kingdom pop/rock music television programme, which ran for five seasons, from 5 November 1982 until 1987...
, featuring Dread performing wearing his riding hat - the 'jockey-ride' being a popular dance at the time in the Jamaican dancehalls. A second album followed in 1984 with It's Massive, which provided the hits "Young Gal No Sell Your Body" and "Justice Love and Harmony". A further album, 2 Dread Inna Babylon, split with Ranking Dread
Ranking Dread
Ranking Dread was a Jamaican reggae deejay who grew up in the Kingston ghettos of Rema and Tivoli. He became famous for his work with the Ray Symbolic sound system in the 1970s...
, appeared in 2006, although it features Tapper Zukie productions from the later 1970s/early 1980s.
In November 1993 Massive Dread, among others, started working on the Trenchtown Reading Centre - a community project designed to improve literacy and learning for the children of Trenchtown. The reading centre was completed in December and Massive Dread entertained at the opening as a deejay and selector.
In 1994 Massive Dread was shot. Some allege it was for publicly speaking out against the political authorities.
Album discography
- Massive Dread (1979, His Majesty)
- 2 Dread Inna Babylon (2006, Silver Kamel) (split with Ranking Dread)
- Strictly...Bubbling (1982, The Up Front Organization)
- It's Massive (1984, The Up Front Organization)