Cham (born Damian Beckett, 24 February 1977)http://www.wordmag.com/Music/Baby%20Cham.html is a Jamaican-born

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 ...

singer, mostly known for his 2006 single " Ghetto Story" from his major label debut album of the same name, a song which led to multiple "story" songs by other artists in a similar vein. He is currently signed to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

, and was known as Baby Cham until 2005. He is still called Baby Cham by his Jamaican fans and fans from around the world despite the name change.

Biography

Originally from Sherlock Crescent in Saint Andrew Parish, Cham's career began in the early 1990s. The ''

Miami New Times The ''Miami New Times'' is a newspaper published in Miami, Florida, United States, and distributed every Thursday. It primarily serves the Miami metropolitan area, and is headquartered in Miami's Wynwood Art District. Overview It was acquired ...

'' referred to his debut album '' Wow... The Story'', released in 2000, as "the most anticipated album in years from any reggae artist", and a ''Washington Post'' review of a live Cham concert in 2006 described him as "the man who may be the next

Sean Paul Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican dancehall musician. Paul's first album, ''Stage One'', was released in 2000. He gained international fame with his second album, ''Dutty Rock'', in 2002. Its single "Get Busy ...

– a dancehall artist who crosses over to the U.S. hip-hop market." Throughout his career, Cham has collaborated with many hip hop and R&B artists such as Foxy Brown,

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...

, Carl Thomas, Shawn Mims,

Mis-Teeq Mis-Teeq were a British girl group, consisting of Sabrina Washington, Su-Elise Nash and Alesha Dixon. They were active from 1999 to 2005. Mis-Teeq had two top-ten albums and seven consecutive top-ten singles on the UK Singles Chart, as ...

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...

Che'Nelle Cheryline Ernestine Lim, known by her stage name Che'Nelle, is a Malaysian-Australian singer-songwriter. She gained popularity in Japan with the release of her debut studio album, '' Things Happen for a Reason'' (2007). Early life Cheryline Er ...

, Jentina,

Akon Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon (), is a Senegalese-United States, American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, businessman, and philanthropist. An influ ...

, and

T-Pain Faheem Rashad Najm (born September 30, 1984), known professionally as T-Pain, is an American singer and rapper. He is known for popularizing creative use of Auto-Tune pitch correction, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electro ...

, Keke Palmer and many others. Cham has for a long time worked with producer Dave Kelly.Johnson, Richard (2012)
Keeping apace with Cham
, ''

Jamaica Observer The ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by ...

'', 29 June 2012, retrieved 1 July 2012 In 2012, he recorded with his wife, O, on the singles "Wine" and "Tun Up". In 2013 he released the Kelly-produced single "Fighter", featuring Damian "Junior Gong" Marley.Jackson, Kevin (2013)
Cham's a FIGHTER
, ''

'', 25 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013 Cham's third album, the Kelly-produced ''Lawless'' was due to be released in June 2015.Jackson, Kevin (2015)
Cham's New Album for June
, ''

'', 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015 Featuring the single "I Am Hot", the album was recorded in Florida apart from a collaboration with Mykal Rose and

Bounty Killer Rodney Basil Price OD (born 12 June 1972), known as Bounty Killer, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay. AllMusic describes him as "one of the most aggressive dancehall stars of the '90s, a street-tough rude boy with an unrepentant fl ...

, which was recorded in Jamaica.

Discography

Albums

Singles

As featured artist

*"Shottas"

featuring Cham and

Kardinal Offishall Jason Drew Harrow (born May 11, 1976), better known by his stage name Kardinal Offishall ( ), is a Canadian rapper and record producer. Often credited as Canada's "hip-hop ambassador", he has been regarded as one of the country's most prominent ...

*" This Is Why I'm Hot" (Remix) Mims featuring Junior Reid and Cham *"The Day Before" Baby Blue Soundcrew featuring Jully Black & Cham *"Oh No (You Can't Be Serious)" Carl Thomas featuring Cham *"Tables Will Turn" Foxy Brown featuring Cham *"Party Time" (Remix) Lukie D featuring Cham and

Jadakiss Jason Terrance Phillips (born May 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Jadakiss (, ), is an American rapper who began his career in the 1990s and formed the hip hop trio the Lox alongside Styles P and Sheek Louch in 1994. The group signed w ...

*"Love Is on My Mind"

Shawnna Rashawnna Guy (born January 3, 1978), better known by her stage name Shawnna, is an American rapper and singer from Chicago, Illinois. She is best known for her guest appearances on Ludacris' 2000 single " What's Your Fantasy", as well as his 2 ...

featuring Cham and Sisqo *"Run Dem" Foxy Brown featuring Cham *"Never Never" (Remix) Brick & Lace featuring Cham *"

I Fell in Love with the DJ "I Fell In Love With the DJ" is a song by Australian recording artist Che'Nelle from her debut studio album, ''Things Happen for a Reason'' (2007). The song was chosen as her first commercial single release. The song was originally written and re ...

featuring Cham *"Tonight" Keke Palmer featuring Cham *"Girl I Need"

Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...

featuring Cham *"Bullet"

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (; born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ and record producer. Originally a Miami-based radio personality, Khaled has since become known for enlisting high-profile music industry ar ...

featuring Cham and Rick Ross *"That's Just Not Me"

featuring Baby Cham *" Bad Ass Strippa" (Remix) Jentina featuring Cham

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cham Atlantic Records artists Jamaican dancehall musicians Reggae fusion artists 1979 births Living people People from Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica