Delroy "Junior" Reid (born 6 June 1963) is a 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 ...

and

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 ...

deejay. From 1986 to 1988, he served as lead vocalist for the reggae band

Black Uhuru Black Uhuru is a Jamaican reggae group formed in 1972, initially as Uhuru ( Swahili for 'freedom'). The group has undergone several line-up changes over the years, with Derrick "Duckie" Simpson as the mainstay. They had their most successful pe ...

on three albums: '' Brutal'' (1986), '' Positive'' (1987), and ''Black Uhuru Live in New York'' (1988). His solo career is extensive, and is widely regarded as a great of Dancehall Reggae. He is also known for his guest performances on the Game's 2006 single "

It's Okay (One Blood) "It's Okay (One Blood)" is a song by American rapper The Game featuring vocals from reggae singer Junior Reid, from his second studio album Doctor's Advocate. Released as the album's lead single on July 24, 2006, the song was written by The G ...

", as well as the remix of Mims' single, " This Is Why I'm Hot" alongside Baby Cham that same year.

Biography

Reid was born in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

, Jamaica, and had a tough upbringing in the city's Waterhouse district, notorious for being one of the most dangerous places in Jamaica.Larkin, Colin (1998) "The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae", Virgin Books, It was there in the politically turbulent late '70s that he recorded his first-ever single "Speak the Truth" at the age of 13 for the late

Hugh Mundell Hugh Mundell (14 June 1962 – 14 October 1983) was a Jamaican roots reggae singer. Biography Mundell was born the fourth child and only boy to Theresa and Alvin Mundell. Alvin Mundell was a successful lawyer.Campbell, Howard (2012)Hugh Munde ...

, released in Jamaica on

Augustus Pablo Horace Michael Swaby (21 June 1953 – 18 May 1999), Thompson, Dave (2002). ''Reggae & Caribbean Music''. Backbeat Books. , pp. 200–202. also known as Augustus Pablo, was a Jamaican roots reggae and dub composer, performer, record produc ...

's Rockers International label, and popular as an import single in the United Kingdom. He followed this with "Know Myself" in 1981. He then went on to form his own band, the Voice of Progress, and after a local hit with "Mini-Bus Driver" the group scored local success with an album of the same name. By the early '80s, commissioned by the great Sugar Minott to record a number of tunes on Minott's Youth Promotion label, enjoying considerable popularity with tracks such as "Human Nature" (produced by Junior Reid), "A1 Lover" (produced by Sugar Minott), and the evergreen "Foreign Mind", an uplifting and proud statement which became an anthem to the

ghetto A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...

youth whom Reid increasingly championed. Junior Reid transferred his talents to King Jammy's studio on St. Lucia Road where his fast-growing success rose yet another notch. "Boom Shacka Lacka" was his first UK hit and led to another exceptional album. After a number of fine singles – which included "Youthman", "Bank Clerk", "Sufferation", "Give Thanks and Praises" and "Higgler Move". Reid then launched his label "Jr Productions" with his first single "Settle Down" by Barrington Levy. In 1986, Reid's opportunity to reach a wider international audience came after he was offered a role as

's lead singer, following the departure of Michael Rose. Three of the singles he released with Black Uhuru, "Pain", "Nah Get Rich and Switch", and "Let us Pray" were published on Junior Reid's JR Productions label. His collaboration on the first album with Black Uhuru, the

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

-nominated ''Brutal'', in 1986, was well received. During this time, he toured Europe, the UK, the USA, Canada and Bermuda with Black Uhuru. Two years and three albums later, Reid departed Black Uhuru for a combination of reasons: Junior had been unable to establish his own identity in the band, having a style very close to Michael Rose’s (a long time contributor to Black Uhuru); the group compositionally suffering difficulties and personal crises. Additionally, Reid was interest to produce his own material, with a desire to regain his domestic popularity, to go solo and into his own studio (One Blood Recording Studio), as well as focusing on his own JR Productions label. During this period, Reid had a 1988 UK number 21 hit with the single "Stop This Crazy Thing", a collaboration with

Coldcut Coldcut are an English electronic music duo composed of Matt Black and Jonathan More. Credited as pioneers for pop sampling in the 1980s, Coldcut are also considered the first stars of UK electronic dance music due to their innovative style, ...

. In 1990, he had even more success with "I'm Free", recorded with

The Soup Dragons The Soup Dragons are a Scottish alternative rock band of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Named after a character in the 1970s children's television series ''Clangers'', the group is best known for its cover of the Rolling Stones' song " I'm Fre ...

. The song reached number 5 in the UK.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p.515-6 Meanwhile, 1989's "One Blood" saw him re-established at the forefront of the reggae scene. "One Blood" became an anthem for unity in America and around the world. According to ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' magazine (7 May 2013), the lyrics of "One Blood" were the source of the album title for

Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend are an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chr ...

's third release, '' Modern Vampires of the City''.

Production work

As a producer, Reid has his own production company; JR Productions. He produced two songs on

Snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

's second album, '' Murder Love'', released in 1995. Reid has collaborated and produced for

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 ...

artist Ninjaman, on many occasions since the early 1990s. He has also produced for

Mighty Diamonds The Mighty Diamonds were a Jamaican harmony trio, recording roots reggae with a strong Rastafarian influence. The group was formed in 1969 and were best known for their 1976 debut album, '' Right Time'', produced by Joseph Hoo Kim, and the 1979 ...

Big Youth Manley Augustus Buchanan (born 19 April 1949, Trenchtown, Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica),Thompson, Dave (2002) "Reggae & Caribbean Music", Backbeat Books, better known as Big Youth (sometimes called Jah Youth), is a Jamaican Toasting (J ...

Dennis Brown Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (1 February 1957 – 1 July 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of l ...

and

Gregory Isaacs Gregory Anthony Isaacs OD (15 July 1951 – 25 October 2010)Thompson, p. 127. was a Jamaican reggae musician. Milo Miles, writing in ''The New York Times'', described Isaacs as "the most exquisite vocalist in reggae".Miles, Milo (1992),RECORDI ...

. He produced all of this work in his own recording studio, which he opened in 1988.

Recent work

His vocals have been used in the

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. Hip- ...

scene, which debuted as a collaboration on the songs "One Blood Under W" and " Jah World" from '' The W'' album by the

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...

, which was released on 21 November 2000. His next collaboration with Guru on the song "Mashing Up the World" on the album "Jaz Mattaz". In 2006, he collaborated with

West Coast hip hop West Coast hip-hop is a regional genre of Hip-hop, hip-hop music that encompasses any artists or music that originated in the West Coast of the United States. West Coast hip-hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during th ...

artist

Game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...

on the song "

"; The song also samples Reid's 1989 single "One Blood". The song hit the top of the billboards and it was also included in the video game '' Def Jam: Icon'' for the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

and the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

. The song was then remixed again and the official remix was released on 7 November 2006. It features 25 hip-hop artists including The Game. Reid appeared on the Blackout remix of Mims' " This Is Why I'm Hot" from his debut album '' M.I.M.S. (Music Is My Savior)''. This was one of the more popular remixes made in 2007. He recently did a song with

Jim Jones James Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American cult leader, preacher and mass murderer who founded and led the Peoples Temple between 1955 and 1978. Jones and the members of his inner circle planned and orchestrat ...

Max B Charley Wingate (born May 21, 1978), better known by his stage name Max B (short for Max Biggaveli), is an American rapper and singer. He is best known for his solo ''Public Domain'' and ''Million Dollar Baby'' series of mixtapes, and introduc ...

and Mel Matrix called "What A Gwan", which features a sample from

Barrington Levy Barrington Ainsworth Levy (born 30 April 1964) is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist from Clarendon, Jamaica. Career In 1977, Levy formed a band called the Mighty Multitude, with his cousin, Everton Dacres; the pair released "My Bla ...

's "Black Roses". Reid is on

Fabolous John David Jackson (born November 18, 1977), known professionally as Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition for his ability upon performing live on DJ Clue's WQHT, Hot 97 radio show. Jackson then signed ...

's album ''

From Nothin' to Somethin' ''From Nothin' to Somethin is the fourth studio album by American rapper Fabolous. The album was released on June 12, 2007, by Desert Storm Records, Street Family Records and Def Jam Recordings. The production on the album was handled by Akon, ...

'' on the track "Gangsta Don't Play" and he has collaborated with Fat Joe on the track "More Money". He appeared on the remix of Smitty's song "Died in Your Arms" also featuring

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. An influential figure in modern Hip-hop, hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "Wiktionary:booming, booming" vocal perfor ...

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 ...

. In late 2007 he performed in the "Freedom Concert" in

Port Harcourt Port Harcourt (Pidgin: ''Po-ta-kot or Pi-ta-kwa)'' is the capital and largest city of Rivers State in Nigeria. It is the fifth most populous city in Nigeria after Lagos, Kano, Ibadan and Benin. It lies along the Bonny River and is locate ...

, Nigeria and also went on to record the remix version of "Free" with De Indispensables, a Nigerian hip hop duo. Reid was also proudly featured on the track "Fire" from San Francisco-based DJ and deep house producer Miguel Migs' 2007 album " Those Things." On 18 November 2007, Reid performed alongside

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 ...

at the

2007 American Music Awards The 35th Annual American Music Awards took place on November 18, 2007 at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. Performers Winners and nominees Winners are highlighted in boldface. ...

. Reid is also featured on a remix version of Alicia Keys' single " No One". He also did a song with

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

called "Ghetto Youths Rock". In 2008, Reid was featured on

Bun B Bernard James Freeman (born March 19, 1973), known professionally as Bun B, is an American rapper. He is best known as one half of the Southern rap duo UGK (Underground Kingz), a group he formed in 1987 alongside Pimp C. Aside from his work wi ...

's song "If It Was Up II Me" off his album II Trill. In 2011, Junior Reid teamed up with

Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, spoken as "ludicrous" in American English), is an American rapper and songwriter. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Atlanta, Georgia, at age ...

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

, Mavado,

Twista Carl Terrell Mitchell (born November 27, 1973), better known by his stage name Twista (also known as Tung Twista), is an American rapper. He is best known for his Chopper (rap), chopper style of rapping and for once holding the title of fastest ...

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 ...

Waka Flocka Flame Juaquin James Malphurs (born May 31, 1986), known professionally as Waka Flocka Flame, is an American rapper. He first became known for his 2009 single "O Let's Do It", which entered the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and led him to ...

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper. He began recording as a member of Hip-hop, hip hop group D.I.T.C., Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.) in 1992, and pursued a sol ...

Ace Hood Antoine Franklin McColister (born May 11, 1988), known professionally Ace Hood, is an American rapper. Born in Port St. Lucie and raised in Deerfield Beach, Florida, he was discovered by DJ Khaled and became the first act to sign with his rec ...

& Birdman in the remix of

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 ...

's "

Welcome to My Hood "Welcome to My Hood" is a song by American record producer DJ Khaled featuring American rappers Rick Ross, Plies, Lil Wayne, and T-Pain from the former's fifth studio album '' We the Best Forever''. The album also contains the remix of the song ...

". "Welcome to My Hood" (featuring

& Plies) is the lead single of

's 5th studio album ''

We the Best Forever ''We the Best Forever'' is the fifth studio album by American disc jockey and record producer DJ Khaled. It was released on July 19, 2011, by We the Best Music Group, Cash Money Records and Universal Motown Records. It is his first album to be ...

''. In May 2013 Reid performed as a headliner at the

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 ...

on the Hills festival in

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

. The festival was well attended with over 60,000 people in attendance, the largest crowd in their history, and Junior Reid's appearance was in wide anticipation. His most recent singles are "Sharing the Night Together", "Never Let you Go", "Same Boat" and are being played widely in Jamaica and across the world. Junior Reid released a mixtape in May 2013 called ''Kingston Firehouse'' which is leading up to his album ''Junior Reid Living Legend''. In an August 2014 interview with Midnight Raver, record producer Delroy Wright revealed that he has unreleased Junior Reid material from the Firehouse Clash sessions that he is planning to release on his Live & Learn record label.

Discography

Albums

*''One Sufferation'' (10" vinyl) (1980) *''Boom-Shack-A-Lack'' (1985)

Greensleeves "Greensleeves" is a traditional English folk song. A broadside ballad by the name "A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves" was registered by Richard Jones at the London Stationers' Company in September 1580,Frank Kidson, ''English F ...

*''Original Foreign Mind'' (1985) *''One Blood'' (1990, re-released in 1992) Big Life/ Mercury *''Progress'' (1990) *''Long Road'' (1991) Cohiba *''Big Timer'' (1993) VP *''Visa'' (1994) Greensleeves *''Junior Reid & The Bloods'' (1995) RAS *''Showers of Blessings'' (1995) *''Listen to the Voices'' (1996) RAS *''RAS Portraits'' (1997) RAS *''True World Order'' (1997) *''Big Timer'' (2000) *''

Emmanuel Immanuel or Emmanuel (, "God swith us"; Koine Greek: ) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the House of David. The Gospel of Matthew ( Matthew 1:22 –23) interprets this as a prophecy of ...

Calling'' (2000) JR Productions and One Blood Music, Jamaica. *''Rasta Government'' (2003) Penitentiary *''Double Top'' (2005) Tamoki Wambesi (with

Cornell Campbell Cornel Campbell aka Don Cornel or Don Gorgon (born 23 November 1945 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a reggae singer, best known for his trademark falsetto voice, and his recordings at Studio One in the late 1960s and his later work with Bunny Lee in ...

) *''Firehouse Clash'' (with

Don Carlos ''Don Carlos'' is an 1867 five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the 1787 play '' Don Karlos, Infant von Spanien'' (''Don Carlos, Infante of Spain'') by Fried ...

) *''Live in Berkeley'' (2007) 2B1 *''Junior Reid, the Living Legend'' (2015), ABB

With Voice of Progress

*''Mini Bus Driver'' (1982) *''I'm Free'' (1990)

With Black Uhuru

*''Brutal'' (1986) *''Positive'' (1987) *''Black Uhuru Live in New York'' (1987)

Singles

= As featured performer

DVD

*''Live in Berkeley'' (2007) Proper Music Distribution

References

External links

* https://juniorreid.com/ * http://www.facebook.com/junioronebloodreid {{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Junior Living people Jamaican reggae singers 1963 births Jamaican dancehall musicians Jamaican Rastafarians Jamaican male singers Reggae fusion artists Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Black Uhuru members Big Life artists