Tapper Zukie

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Tapper Zukie
Birth nameDavid Sinclair
Born1955 (age 6364)
Origin Kingston, Jamaica
Genres Reggae, dancehall
LabelsStars, Tappa, Klik, Front Line/Virgin

Tapper Zukie (or Tappa Zukie) (born David Sinclair, 1955, Kingston, Jamaica) is a reggae deejay and producer. [1]

Kingston, Jamaica Capital city in Surrey, Jamaica

Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island. In the Americas, Kingston is the largest predominantly English-speaking city south of the United States.

Jamaica Country in the Caribbean

Jamaica is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning 10,990 square kilometres (4,240 sq mi) in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the fourth-largest island country in the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about 145 kilometres (90 mi) south of Cuba, and 191 kilometres (119 mi) west of Hispaniola.

Reggae music genre from Jamaica

Reggae is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s.The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the word "reggae," effectively naming the genre and introducing it to a global audience. While sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to most types of popular Jamaican dance music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that was strongly influenced by traditional mento as well as American jazz and rhythm and blues, especially the New Orleans R&B practiced by Fats Domino and Allen Toussaint, and evolved out of the earlier genres ska and rocksteady. Reggae usually relates news, social gossip, and political comment. Reggae spread into a commercialized jazz field, being known first as ‘Rudie Blues’, then ‘Ska’, later ‘Blue Beat’, and ‘Rock Steady’. It is instantly recognizable from the counterpoint between the bass and drum downbeat, and the offbeat rhythm section. The immediate origins of reggae were in ska and rocksteady; from the latter, reggae took over the use of the bass as a percussion instrument.

Contents

Biography

Tapper was the nickname given to him by his grandmother in his youth, while Zukie was a name that came from his friends' association as a young boy - their gang was called 'The Zukies'. [1]

Nickname informal name of a person, place, or thing, for affection or ridicule

A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place, or thing - commonly used for affection.

Adolescence transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to legal adulthood

Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to legal adulthood. Adolescence is usually associated with the teenage years, but its physical, psychological or cultural expressions may begin earlier and end later. For example, puberty now typically begins during preadolescence, particularly in females. Physical growth and cognitive development can extend into the early twenties. Thus, age provides only a rough marker of adolescence, and scholars have found it difficult to agree upon a precise definition of adolescence.

In 1973 his mother, concerned with Zukie's tendency to get into trouble, sent him to England to stay with some relatives. [1] Producer Bunny Lee arranged with the UK-based entrepreneur Larry Lawrence for him to undertake some recording sessions and concerts, opening for U-Roy the day after his arrival in London. [1] Zukie's first release was the single "Jump & Twist", produced by Lawrence. [1] Around this time he also recorded material for Clem Bushay, which would later form part of the Man Ah Warrior album, issued in 1973. [2]

England Country in north-west Europe, part of the United Kingdom

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north-northwest. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

Bunny Lee Jamaican record producer

Edward O'Sullivan Lee OD, better known by the name Bunny "Striker" Lee, is a Jamaican record producer and one of the major forces in the Jamaican music industry.

United Kingdom Country in Europe

The United Kingdom, officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland but more commonly known as the UK or Britain, is a sovereign country lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state‍—‌the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. With an area of 242,500 square kilometres (93,600 sq mi), the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world. It is also the 22nd-most populous country, with an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017.

Zukie returned to Jamaica, cutting "Judge I Oh Lord" for Lloydie Slim and "Natty Dread Don't Cry" for Lee. [2] After an argument with Lee that resulted in the police being called, the two made peace with Lee giving Zukie some riddims to record over, and taking these and others from Joseph Hoo Kim, he toasted over them at King Tubby's studio, these forming the album MPLA (released in 1976). [1] [2]

Riddim is the Jamaican Patois pronunciation of the English word "rhythm". In reggae, dancehall, calypso, soca, and reggaeton parlance it refers to the instrumental accompaniment to a song. These genres consist of the riddim plus the "voicing" sung by the deejay. The resulting song structure is distinctive in many ways. A given riddim, if popular, may be used in dozens—or even hundreds—of songs, not only in recordings but also in live performances.

Joseph "Jo Jo" Hoo Kim was a Jamaican reggae record producer best known for his productions in the 1970s at his Channel One Studios.

In Jamaican music, a deejay (DJ) is a reggae or dancehall musician who sings and "toasts" to an instrumental riddim.

The Man Ah Warrior album had gained Zukie a cult following in the UK, and he returned there in 1975, releasing the track "MPLA" as a single, which was sufficiently successful for Klik to issue the album of the same name in the UK. [2] One notable fan of MPLA was Patti Smith, who gave Zukie a support slot on her UK tour, reissued Man a Warrior on her Mer label, and contributed sleeve-notes to his 1977 album Man From Bosrah. [1] [2] Reviewing the 1977 reissue of Man a Warrior, Village Voice critic Robert Christgau said: "Dub has certain affinities with heavy metal, which may be why the only album of the stuff I've ever played much is Big Youth's first, Screaming Target , now five years old and never released in the States. Ace discophile Lenny Kaye has compiled this set from the same period, which means that the mix is less volcanic than in recent dub, the vocals more buoyant. Zukie's is fresh enough to really enjoy putting a rap down, too, so he doesn't sound doombound, verbally or musically. Sample segue: from 'Simpleton Badness' to 'Archie the Rednose Reindeer.'" [3]

Patti Smith American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist

Patricia Lee Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and visual artist who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses.

Robert Christgau American music journalist

Robert Thomas Christgau is an American essayist and music journalist. One of the earliest professional rock critics, he spent 37 years as the chief music critic and senior editor for The Village Voice, during which time he created and oversaw the annual Pazz & Jop poll. He has also covered popular music for Esquire, Creem, Newsday, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Billboard, NPR, Blender, and MSN Music, and was a visiting arts teacher at New York University.

Dub is a genre of electronic music that grew out of reggae in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae. Music in this genre consists predominantly of instrumental remixes of existing recordings and is achieved by significantly manipulating and reshaping the recordings, usually by removing the vocals from an existing music piece, and emphasizing the drum and bass parts. Other techniques include dynamically adding extensive echo, reverb, panoramic delay, and occasional dubbing of vocal or instrumental snippets from the original version or other works. It was an early form of popular electronic music. The Roland Space Echo was widely used by dub producers in the 1970s to produce echo and delay effects.

This period of success allowed Zukie to set up his own 'Stars' record label, and he began to produce other artists, including Junior Ross & The Spear, Prince Alla, Errol Dunkley, Ronnie Davis, and Horace Andy. [1] Two dub albums emerged in 1977: Escape From Hell and Tapper Zukie In Dub.

A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos, while also conducting talent scouting and development of new artists, and maintaining contracts with recording artists and their managers. The term "record label" derives from the circular label in the center of a vinyl record which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information. Within the mainstream music industry, recording artists have traditionally been reliant upon record labels to broaden their consumer base, market their albums, and be both promoted and heard on music streaming services, radio, and television. Record labels also provide publicists, who assist performers in gaining positive media coverage, and arrange for their merchandise to be available via stores and other media outlets.

Keith Blake, better known as Prince Alla is a Jamaican roots reggae singer whose career began in the 1960s, and has continued with a string of releases into the 2000s.

Errol Dunkley, sometimes spelled Erroll Dunkley, is a Jamaican reggae musician, born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1951.

A deal with Virgin Records subsidiary Frontline saw the release of two further albums in 1978 - Peace In The Ghetto and Tapper Roots, while he also continued to release records on his Stars label in Jamaica.

After 1976, he concentrated on producing music in Jamaica, working with such reggae musicians as The Mighty Diamonds, Max Romeo, Ken Boothe, Sugar Minott and U-Roy.

In 1978 he scored a big hit with "Oh Lord", which spent six weeks on top of the Jamaican charts. Also popular that summer was "She Want a Phensic". [1]

In the mid-1980s, Zukie was more prolific as a producer, working with artists such as The Mighty Diamonds, Sugar Minott, and Max Romeo. [1] In 1986 he released a new album of his own, Raggamuffin. [1] He continued to concentrate on production, although another album was released in 1996, Deep Roots. [1]

After suffering a "diabetic episode" in October 2015, Zukie was out of the public eye until he performed at a concert in December 2018. [4] He stated in January 2019 that he was recording a new album and planned to perform in Europe in the summer. [4]

Discography

Albums

Compilations

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Greene, Jo-Ann "Tapper Zukie Biography", Allmusic, retrieved 2011-02-15
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Larkin, Colin (1998) The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae, Virgin Books, ISBN   0-7535-0242-9, p. 325-6
  3. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: Z". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved March 23, 2019 via robertchristgau.com.
  4. 1 2 Campbell, Howard (2019) "Tappa Zukie looks to Europe", Jamaica Observer , 9 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019