Who is Yellowman? Jamaican Raggae God

Are you a fan of reggae? Have you heard of Yellowman? If you are a true raggae fan than you better have.

JC Perez brought up Yellowman’s name in a conversation we were having about life in the real Caribbean, away from all the resorts and tourist hot spots. I started digging into yellowman a bit and listening to a few of his laid back Jamaican tracks.

I found out that Yellowman’s scope of influence was a lot larger than I thought and it made me feel like a rookie because I hadn’t heard of him before my conversation with Perez. I’ll quit babbling and let you read a little history about Yellowman as you listen to his Zungguzungguguzungguzeng.

Wikipedia History of Yellowman

Winston Foster grew up in a Catholic orphanage called Alpha Boys School in Kingston, and was shunned due to having albinism, which was usually not socially accepted in Jamaica. Alpha Boys School was known for its musical alumni.

[1] In the late 1970s Yellowman first gained wide attention when he won a contest event in Kingston, Jamaica called “The Tastee Talent Contest” where deejays would perform toasting. Like many Jamaican deejays, he honed his talents by frequently performing at outdoor sound-system dances.[2] In 1981, after becoming significantly popular throughout Jamaica, Yellowman became the first dancehall artist to be signed to a major American label (CBS Records).[3] One reviewer of Yellowman was quoted as saying “Listening to Yellowman sing is like watching Michael Jordan play basketball. He knows he’s got it, you know he’s got it, and it’s a trip just experiencing him perform.”[4] Over time he became regarded by some as a sex symbol and even managed to gain fortune and fame by directing attention to his physical skin complexion in several of his songs.[4] His first album release was in 1982 entitled Mister Yellowman followed by Zungguzungguguzungguzeng in 1983 earning instant success. Yellowman’s sexually explicit lyrics in popular songs such as “Them a Mad Over Me” boasted of his sexual prowess, like those of other reggae singers/deejays, earned Yellowman criticism[who?] in the mid-1980s. Yellowman appeared in Jamaican Dancehall Volcano Hi-power 1983 which featured other major dancehall musicians such as Massive Dread, Josey Wales, Burro Banton and Eek-A-Mouse.

If you’re interesting and want to read more here is the link to the Wikipedia page that has more. Yellowman Wikipedia.

Over and out from somewhere south,
RumShopRyan