Aisha, sometimes Sister Aisha (born Pamela Ross; 1962 in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

, England) is a

roots reggae Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae that deals with the everyday lives and aspirations of Africans and those in the African Diaspora, including the spiritual side of Rastafari, black liberation, revolution and the honoring of God, called Jah ...

singer.

Biography

Aisha's father ran a sound system, and she began singing at the age of eight, building up a strong local following before beginning her recording career.Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, , p.7-8 At the age of sixteen, she met Lippy, who owned the Locks City sound system, and she sang over the system's

dub plate A dubplate is an acetate disc usually of 10 inches diameter, traditionally used by studios to test recordings prior to mastering for the subsequent pressing of a vinyl record, but pioneered by reggae sound systems as a way to play exclusive music ...

s.Judy Hecker (2006)
SNWMF '06 PERFORMERS: Aisha
, Sierra Nevada World Music Festival In 1979, she successfully auditioned for the band

Capital Letters Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing ...

as a backing vocalist. She went solo in 1984 and was soon introduced to

Mad Professor Mad Professor (born Neil Joseph Stephen Fraser, 1955, Georgetown, Guyana) is a Guyanese-born British dub music producer and engineer known for his original productions and remix work. He is considered one of the leading producers of dub music ...

, and after a few singles, Mad Professor produced her debut album, ''High Priestess'' (1988). A second album, ''Daughters of Zion'' appeared in 1993, with further albums in the years that followed, Aisha also working with Norman Grant of

The Twinkle Brothers The Twinkle Brothers are a Jamaican reggae band formed in 1962, and still active in the 21st century under Norman Grant's lead. History The Twinkle Brothers were formed in 1962 by brothers Norman (vocals, drums) and Ralston Grant (vocals, rhythm ...

on two albums. She also featured on the ''Roots Daughters'' series of albums, alongside artists such as

Kofi Kofi is an Akan masculine given name among the Akan people (such as the Ashanti and Fante) in Ghana that is given to a boy born on Friday. Traditionally in Ghana, a child would receive their Akan day name during their Outdooring, eight days aft ...

, Fabian, and Sandra Cross. She first performed in Jamaica in 2000 at the

Augustus Pablo Horace Swaby (21 June 1953 – 18 May 1999),Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , p. 200-202 known as Augustus Pablo, was a Jamaican roots reggae and dub record producer and a multi-instrumentalist, active f ...

Benefit concert, and her debut performance in the United States came in 2004. She performed at the 2003 ''

Meltdown Meltdown may refer to: Science and technology * Nuclear meltdown, a severe nuclear reactor accident * Meltdown (security vulnerability), affecting computer processors * Mutational meltdown, in population genetics Arts and entertainment Music * Me ...

'' festival (curated by

Lee "Scratch" Perry Lee "Scratch" Perry (born Rainford Hugh Perry; 20 March 1936 – 29 August 2021) was a Jamaican record producer, composer and singer noted for his innovative studio techniques and production style. Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s development o ...

) at London's

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

, which saw ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' describe her as "the closest we have to a female

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

". In 2006, she toured internationally with Mad Professor's Ariwa Posse.Mad Professor & The Ariwa Posse Featuring Aisha
, 'Daily Times' (Farmington, New Mexico)

Discography

*''High Priestess'' (1988)

Ariwa Mad Professor (born Neil Joseph Stephen Fraser, 1955, Georgetown, Guyana) is a Guyanese-born British dub music producer and engineer known for his original productions and remix work. He is considered one of the leading producers of dub music ...

*''Daughters of Zion'' (1993) Twinkle *''True Roots'' (1994) Ariwa *''Raise Your Voice'' (1996) Twinkle *''There is More to Life'' (2005) Ariwa

References

External links

Aisha
at discogs.com

Ariwa.com {{Authority control 1962 births Living people English women singers British reggae singers Musicians from Wolverhampton