Paul Scott Levy (born 28 April 1971), also known as General Levy, is an English

ragga Raggamuffin music, usually abbreviated as ragga, is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music. Similar to hip hop, sampling often serves a prominent role in raggamuffin music. Wayne Smi ...

deejay A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobil ...

, regularly employed on studio tracks by

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

DJs. He is best known for the track "

Incredible Incredible may refer to: Music Albums * ''Incredible'' (Clique Girlz album) or the title song, 2008 * ''Incredible'' (Gary Puckett & The Union Gap album), 1968 * ''Incredible'' (Ilse DeLange album), 2008 * ''Incredible'' (Mary Mary album) or ...

" which he recorded with

M-Beat M-Beat (born Marlon Hart) is a jungle musician and producer. He scored three top 20 hit singles on the UK Singles Chart: "Incredible" (featuring General Levy) at No. 8, " Sweet Love" (a cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * A ...

. A remixed version of this reached number 8 on the UK Singles Chart in 1994.

Biography

General Levy was born in

Central Middlesex Hospital Central Middlesex Hospital is in the centre of the Park Royal business estate, on the border of two London boroughs, Brent and Ealing. It is managed by the London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust. History The hospital was establish ...

Park Royal Park Royal is an area in North West London, North West London, England, partly in the London Borough of Brent and partly the London Borough of Ealing. It is the site of the largest business park in London, but despite intensive existing use, ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on 28 April 1971. He is of Trinidadian descent. Levy's formative years were spent in

Harlesden Harlesden is a district in the London Borough of Brent, North West London. Located north of the Grand Union Canal and Wormwood Scrubs, the Harrow Road flows through the centre of the area which goes eastwards to Central London and west towar ...

and

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

in the

London Borough of Brent The London Borough of Brent () is a London borough in north-west London. It borders the boroughs of Harrow to the north-west, Barnet to the north-east, Camden to the east, the City of Westminster to the south-east, as well as the Royal Borough ...

in northwest London. Levy's musical influence was developed in the area, collecting

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 style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Ro ...

tapes, beginning in 1981. At the age of 12, General Levy began writing lyrics and went onto form his first sound system two years later with his friends named Third Dimension. General Levy's first major releases were with the

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- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

Fashion Records, who signed a distribution deal with

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

for the re-releases of the tracks he had recorded. He had earlier releases with the record producers Lloydy Crucial and Robbo Ranx (later of BBC 1xtra), but these were mainly tracks that were hits on the underground

scene. General Levy was ostracized by the UK

jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''ja� ...

scene in 1994, due to mis-reported comments he made relating to his collaboration with

on "Incredible". He had claimed in an interview with ''

The Face The face is a part of the body, the front of the head. Face may also refer to: Film * ''The Magician'' (1958 film) or ''The Face'' * ''The Face'' (1996 film), an American television film * ''Face'' (1997 film), a British crime drama by Antoni ...

'' that "I run

at the moment". This controversy has since died down and he is now being cited as one of the 25 UK

MCs Music * Motion City Soundtrack, a pop punk / rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota Science and technology * Matrix cable system, submarine communications cable connecting Indonesia and Singapore * Megawatt Charging System, electric vehicle char ...

"who changed the game". "

" was featured in the film ''

Ali G Indahouse ''Ali G Indahouse'' is a 2002 British comedy film written by Sacha Baron Cohen and Dan Mazer, directed by Mark Mylod, and starring Baron Cohen as Ali G, the character he originally played on the Channel 4 comedy series '' The 11 O'Clock Show'' ...

'', and as a TV advertising campaign by Honda. General Levy briefly collaborated with Rocco Barker of

Flesh for Lulu Flesh for Lulu were an English rock band formed in Brixton, London, England, active between 1982 and 1992. They reformed from 2013 to 2015 with a new lineup. Initially part of the post-punk scene, the band's sound shifted to reflect influenc ...

in the band The Space Police. Levy also featured on the song "Only God Can Judge Me" by R&B singer

Mark Morrison Mark Morrison (born 3 May 1972) is a British R&B singer. His single, " Return of the Mack", became a No. 1 or top 10 hit in several European countries in 1996. The song peaked at No. 2 in the United States the following year. Career Mark M ...

. He collaborated with Madness singer Suggs on his 1998 album '' The Three Pyramids Club'', on the track "Girl". Levy featured on many sound systems in the late 1980s and early 1990s, such as Java One love and Tippertone Sound. His collaborations with dub producer Joe Ariwa appear on several releases including "In the Ghetto" and "Be Conscious & Wise: Dub Showcase". In 2018, he collaborated with artists such as

Chase & Status Chase & Status are an English electronic music duo composed of Saul Milton (Chase) and Will Kennard (Status). In addition, Andy Gangadeen is the drummer when the band performs live. MC Rage formerly performed as MC with the group, but left in J ...

Fedde Le Grand Fedde Le Grand (; born 7 September 1977) is a Dutch house DJ, record producer and remixer from Utrecht. Biography In 2006, his single " Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit" reached the top five on the Dutch Top 40, number one in the UK Singles Chart ...

and

Spragga Benz Carlton Errington Grant (born 30 May 1969), better known as Spragga Benz, is a Jamaican dancehall deejay. Career He began his career around 1991. He was once known to his friends as " Spaghetti" (tall and slim), but this was later shortened t ...

Discography

Albums

*''Double Trouble'' (1991, Gussie P Records) – Capleton & General Levy *''The Wickeder General'' (1992, Fashion Records) *''Wickedness Increase'' (1993, FFRR/London) *''Rumble in the Jungle Volume One'' (1994, Jungle Fashion Records) – Top Cat & General Levy *''New Breed'' (1999, Arts Records) *''Spirit & Faith'' (2008, BoombamMuzik) *''We Progressive'' (feat The PSB Family) (2011, X-Ray Records) *''In the Chamber of Dub'' (2012, Ariwa Sounds) – Joe Ariwa & General Levy *''4ward'' (2014) – DJ Bonnot & General Levy *''Be Conscious and Wise'' – General Levy & Joe Ariwa

Singles

Book

On 13 November 2022 Levy self published his

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English p ...

entitled Incredible exoloring his life and career to date.

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, General 1971 births Living people People from Park Royal English reggae musicians English drum and bass musicians Black British male rappers Ragga musicians Musicians from London English people of Trinidad and Tobago descent