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Shinehead | |
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| Birth name | Edmund Carl Aiken |
| Born | 10 April 1962 Kensington, England |
| Genres | Reggae, reggae fusion, dancehall, hip hop |
| Instrument | Vocalist |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Labels | Elektra Records, African Love Records |
Edmund Carl Aiken (born 10 April 1962 in Kent, England), [1] better known as Shinehead, is a British Jamaican reggae singer/toaster/rapper.
He began his music career by performing for different New York City reggae dancehall sound systems in the 1980s, most notably Tony Screw's Downbeat the Ruler, based in The Bronx.
His recording debut was in 1986 on the African Love Music independent record label with "Who the Cap Fits (Let Them Wear It)" from the album Rough & Rugged. In his early years, Jeff Buckley led his group on guitar and lent a hand with backing vocals. He appeared on Sly and Robbie's 1987 album, Rhythm Killers . [2]
Shinehead was signed to a recording contract by A&R representative Raoul Roach with Elektra Records in 1988, and remained with the label until 1995.
His best-known single is the cover version of Sting's "Englishman in New York", retitled as "Jamaican in New York" (1993). It reached No. 30 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1993. [3] The single featured on the Sidewalk University album.
He is largely credited as being one of the original acts to cross hip-hop with reggae music, [4] now known as reggae fusion, with songs such as "Try My Love" in 1992. [5] Shinehead's vocal talent can be heard across various tracks on the Unity (1988) and The Real Rock (1990) albums. His rapid deejay chat style can be heard on tracks such as "Cigarette Breath", "Gimme No Crack" and "Do It with Ease". Shinehead's melodic, singjay approach is present in songs such as "Strive", while he brings more hip hop flavor in tracks including "Chain Gang". "Chain Gang" was the first video to be shown during a regular season episode of Yo! MTV Raps , in 1988.
Shinehead is still active. He was part of the yearly Jamrock cruise in 2015. The same year, he played at the CES in Las Vegas. He has had success with his sound system, Kingston 12.
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [7] | AUS [8] | BEL (FL) [9] | FRA [9] | GER [9] | NZ [9] | SWE [9] | |||
| "Jamaican in New York" | 1993 | 30 | 97 | 34 | 17 | 31 | 5 | 21 | Sidewalk University |
| "Let 'Em In" | 70 | — | — | — | — | 13 | — | ||
In Jamaican dancehall music, a riddim is the instrumental accompaniment to a song and is synonymous with the rhythm section. Jamaican music genres that use the term consist of the riddim plus the voicing sung by the deejay. A given riddim, if popular, may be used in dozens—or even hundreds—of songs, not only in recordings but also in live performances.
My Xperience is a reggae album by Jamaican dancehall performer Bounty Killer, released in 1996. Bounty Killer was one of dancehall's biggest stars in the 1990s and his harsh hip hop-influenced songs made him a controversial figure. Most of the songs on My Xperience are morose tales of poverty and violence. The album featured the single "Hip-Hopera".
Horace Andy is a Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer, known for his distinctive vocals and hit songs such as "Government Land", as well as "Angel", "Spying Glass", and "Five Man Army" with English trip hop group Massive Attack. He is also famous for a cover version of "Ain't No Sunshine". Andy is often described as one of the most respected and influential singers in Jamaica.
Ini Kamoze is a Jamaican reggae artist who began his career in the early 1980s and rose to prominence in 1994 with the signature song "Here Comes the Hotstepper". The single topped the US Billboard Hot 100 as well as record charts in Denmark and New Zealand, reaching number four on the UK Singles Chart.
Rexton Rawlston Fernando Gordon OD, better known by his stage name Shabba Ranks, is a Jamaican dancehall musician. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was one of the most popular Jamaican musicians in the world. Throughout his prominence in his home country as a dancehall artist, he gained popularity in North America with his studio album Just Reality in 1990. He released other studio albums, including As Raw as Ever and X-tra Naked, which both won a Grammy Award as Best Reggae Album in 1992 and 1993, respectively. He is notoriously popular for "Mr. Loverman" and "Ting-A-Ling", which were globally acclaimed and deemed his signature songs.
Lowell Fillmore "Sly" Dunbar is a Jamaican drummer, best known as one half of the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and reggae production duo Sly and Robbie.
Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separately in Jamaica as professional musicians. Shakespeare died in December 2021 following kidney surgery.
Delroy Easton "Bitty" McLean is a British reggae, lovers' rock and ragga singer. He is best known for his three UK Top 10 hits in 1993 and 1994, including his debut offering "It Keeps Rainin' ".
Half Pint, and sometimes credited Lindon Andrew Roberts, is a Jamaican dancehall, ragga, and reggae singer.
Joseph "Jo Jo" Hoo Kim was a Jamaican reggae record producer best known for his productions in the 1970s at his Channel One Studios.
Cherine Tanya Anderson is a Jamaican dancehall/reggae vocalist and actress.
"Fire" is a song by R&B/funk band Ohio Players. It was the opening track from the album of the same name and hit No. 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot Soul Singles chart in early 1975. It spent two weeks atop the soul chart. "Fire" was the Ohio Players' only entry on the new disco/dance chart, where it peaked at No. 10. The song is considered to be the band's signature one, along with "Love Rollercoaster".
Jarret Lloyd Vincent, better known by one of his stage aliases Bim Sherman, was a Jamaican musician and singer-songwriter.
Right Time is the 1976 studio album debut of influential reggae band the Mighty Diamonds. The album, released by Virgin Records after they signed the Mighty Diamonds following a search for talent in Jamaica, is critically regarded as a reggae classic, a landmark in the roots reggae subgenre. Several of the album's socially conscious songs were hits in the band's native Jamaica, with a few becoming successful in the UK underground. Influential and sometimes unconventional, the album helped secure the success of recording studio Channel One Studios, and rhythm team Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare.
Rhythm Killers is an album by Jamaican musical duo Sly and Robbie, released in May 1987 by Island Records. By the time of the album's recording, Sly and Robbie had transitioned away from their prolific work in the reggae genre. They spent the 1980s experimenting with electronic sounds and contemporary recording technology on international, cross-genre endeavors, which influenced their direction for Rhythm Killers.
"Boops (Here to Go)" is a song by Jamaican duo Sly and Robbie, released in 1987 as the first single from the album Rhythm Killers. The song is their most successful in the United Kingdom, where it reached No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart in May 1987, and remained on the chart for a total of 11 weeks.
The Real Rock is a studio album by the reggae/rap musician Shinehead, released in 1990 via Elektra Records.
Silent Assassin is an album by the Jamaican musicians Sly and Robbie, released in 1989 via Island Records.
Unity is an album by the British Jamaican musician Shinehead, released in 1988.
Sidewalk University is an album by the musician Shinehead. It was released in 1992 via Elektra Records. Shinehead supported the album with the "Sidewalk University Tour", which included Worl-A-Girl among its supporting acts. He also participated in Reggae Sunsplash 1993, his third time and his first as the headliner.
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