Edmund Carl Aiken (born 10 April 1962 in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England), better known as Shinehead, is a British Jamaican

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

singer/

toaster A toaster is a small electric appliance that uses radiant heat to brown sliced bread into toast, the color caused by the Maillard reaction. It typically consists of one or more slots into which bread is inserted, and heating elements, o ...

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

Career

He began his music career by performing for different New York City reggae

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

sound systems Sound system may refer to: Technology media * Sound reinforcement system, a system for amplifying audio for an audience * High fidelity, a sound system intended for accurate reproduction of music in the home * Public address system, an institution ...

in the 1980s, most notably Tony Screw's Downbeat the Ruler, based in

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. His recording debut was in 1986 on the African Love Music

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

with "Who the Cap Fits (Let Them Wear It)" from the album ''Rough & Rugged''. In his early years,

Jeff Buckley Jeffrey Scott Buckley (raised as Scott Moorhead; November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997) was an American musician. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, he attracted a cult following in the early 1990s performing at venues in ...

led his group on guitar and lent a hand with backing vocals. He appeared on

Sly and Robbie Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separat ...

's 1987 album, ''

Rhythm Killers ''Rhythm Killers'' is an album by Jamaican musical duo Sly and Robbie, released in May 1987 by Island Records. By the time of the album's recording, Sly and Robbie had transitioned away from their prolific work in the reggae genre. They spent the ...

''. Shinehead was signed to a recording contract by A&R representative Raoul Roach with

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

in 1988, and remained with the label until 1995. His best-known single is the

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

's "

Englishman in New York "Englishman in New York" is a song by the English singer-songwriter Sting, from his second studio album '' Nothing Like the Sun'', released in October 1987. Branford Marsalis played soprano saxophone on the track, while the drums were played by ...

", retitled as "Jamaican in New York" (1993). It reached No. 30 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1993. The single featured on the ''Sidewalk University'' album. He is largely credited as being one of the original acts to cross

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

with

music, now known as

reggae fusion Reggae fusion is a Music_genre#Subtypes, fusion genre of reggae that mixes reggae and/or dancehall with other genres, such as pop music, pop, rock music, rock, hip hop music, hip-hop/rap, Contemporary R&B, R&B, jazz, funk, soul music, soul, disco ...

, with songs such as "Try My Love" in 1992. Shinehead's vocal talent can be heard across various tracks on the ''

Unity Unity is the state of being as one (either literally or figuratively). It may also refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpoo ...

'' (1988) and ''

The Real Rock ''The Real Rock'' is a studio album by the reggae/rap musician Shinehead, released in 1990 via Elektra Records. The album peaked at No. 155 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Production The album was recorded in New York and Jamaica, with contributions f ...

'' (1990) albums. His rapid deejay chat style can be heard on tracks such as "Cigarette Breath", "Gimme No Crack" and "Do It with Ease". Shinehead's melodic,

singjay Singjaying is a Jamaican style of reggae vocals combining toasting and singing in an elastic format that encourages rhythmically compelling and texturally impressive vocal embellishments. The performer is called a singjay, a combination of singe ...

approach is present in songs such as "Strive", while he brings more hip hop flavor in tracks including "Chain Gang". "Chain Gang" was the first video to be shown during a regular season episode of ''

Yo! MTV Raps ''Yo! MTV Raps'' is an American two-hour television music video program, which first aired on MTV Europe from 1987 to mid-1990s and on MTV, MTV US from August 1988 to August 1995. The American version of the program (created by Ted Demme and Pe ...

'', in 1988. Shinehead is still active. He was part of the yearly Jamrock cruise in 2015. The same year, he played at the CES in Las Vegas. He has had success with his sound system, Kingston 12.

Discography

Albums

* ''Rough & Rugged'' (1986) * ''

'' (1988) * ''

'' (1990) * ''

Sidewalk University ''Sidewalk University'' is an album by the musician Shinehead. It was released in 1992 via Elektra Records. Shinehead supported the album with the "Sidewalk University Tour", which included Worl-A-Girl among its supporting acts. He also participate ...

'' (1992) * ''Troddin'' (1994) * ''Praises'' (1999)

Charted singles

References

External links

Shinehead to address Diageo’s Project Artiste
{{Yo! MTV Raps 1962 births Living people English reggae musicians English people of Jamaican descent Reggae fusion artists Elektra Records artists Place of birth missing (living people) Musicians from Kent Black British male rappers British male rappers 20th-century Black British male singers 20th-century British male singers