Well I purchased another NFT from the Cool Rulers Collection by Studio Murasaki. Of course within the realm of Reggae & Dancehall as that is my niche. This time around I purchased an illustration depicting Super Cat, one of the original Dancehall Deejays who paved the way for those we see on the stage today. One of those artistes being the world famous Sean Paul.
Super Cat aka William Anthony Maragh was born in Kingston, Jamaica on June 25th 1963. He is considered one of the greatest Deejays in the history of the genre and received widespread popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Recently he even appeared on DJ Cassidy's Pass the Mic series where he showcased Reggae & Dancehall acts for the fist time.
Super Cat was born in Seivright Gardens also know as Cockbrun Pen. The area was Dancehall hotbed raising some of the genres early pioneers such as Prince Jazzbo and U-Roy. At the age of 7, Super Cat AKA "Cat A Rock" AKA "Wild Apache" assisted the Soul Imperial Sound System at a club called the Bamboo Lawn while absorbing the culture first hand. it was there he would be influenced by Dillinger, Ranking Trevor, Early B The Doctor. and other Dancehall toasters at the time.
Super Cat's first release was titled Mr Walker and was released in 1981 and was a huge hit in Jamaica. But it was the song titled "Boops" which cemented him into Dancehall legendary status. Many Dancehall artistes started singing about the topic as well, and we all know trend starting is a big part of the culture. Super Cat released an album of a similar name "See Boops Deh" in 1985.
The Donda Da was one of the Dancehall's rulers of the 80s with hits such as "Ghetto Red Hot", "Nuff Man A Dead" and "Dolly My Baby". He was one of the first Jamaican Deejays to cross over into the US/HipHop market and collaborated with many of the top names at the time including : The Notorious BIG, Puff Daddy(before they were household names), Heavy D, Mary J. Blige, Wu-Tang Clan’s Method Man, Kris Kross and Cypress Hill and many more. Below is the track "Dolly My Baby" Remix featuring Puff Daddy, Mary J Blige, 3rd Eye & the Notorious BIG.
He not only did collabs with Hip-hop artistes, as is evident on the platinum selling record by Sugar Ray featuring Super Cat titled "Fly" released in 1997. This track was a real interesting one as it mixed two genres that would not usually be in the same pot.
In 1992 he was featured on the remix of Jump by Kris Kross, and that song is an anthem of the 90s no doubt. He also released another song with the duo called "Alright". All these hits put him as Source magazine's Dancehall Artiste of the year in 1993 and in those days and maybe even now, that is a HUGE deal. RIP Chris Kelly.
My All time favorite and one of his most famous songs was "Ghetto Red Hot" as it highlights what I think Super Cat stands for best, hardcore but conscious lyrics. "Weh dem deh when the Ghetto Red Hot, when we looking the food fi di pot".
But Super Cat was also for the ladies with hits such as Girls Town and Dolly My Baby highlighting that. It is here artiste like Sean Paul would draw inspiration and carve their own niche.
Ok, I could go on and on dishing out hits from Super Cat but I leave you with this last one called " Them No Care" off his album titled Dona DADA released in 1992. this song also showcases his conscious but hardcore style touching on the topic of war in the world and is even relevant today. Take a listen.
Into NFTS? Into Reggae? Make me and offer on OpenSea but I doubt I will accept.
Info Sources: Reggaeville, Wiki, Super cat's Vevo.
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Posted via ReggaeJahm | Reggae Culture Rewarded
Into NFTS? Into Reggae? Make me and offer on OpenSea but I doubt I will accept.
Info Sources: Reggaeville, Wiki, Super cat's Vevo.
ReggaeJAHM.com