Reanno Devon Gordon (born 24 January 1979), better known by his stage name Busy Signal, is a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

reggae 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 ...

artist.

Biography

Reanno Devon Gordon p/k/a Busy Signal was born in

Saint Ann Parish Saint Ann is the largest parish in Jamaica. It is situated on the north coast of the island, in the county of Middlesex, roughly halfway between the eastern and western ends of the island. It is often called "the Garden Parish of Jamaica" on ac ...

,Johnson, Carolyn (2006)
A Very Busy Childhood
", ''Jamaica Star'', 21 January 2006, retrieved 1 July 2012 living in areas in West and East Kingston such as Tivoli Gardens, Papine, and

Spanish Town Spanish Town ( jam, label=Jamaican Creole, Panish Tong) is the capital and the largest town in the parish of St. Catherine in the historic county of Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the Spanish and British capital of Jamaica from 1534 until 1872. Th ...

. He is a past student of Brown's Town Comprehensive High School. Known as one of the artists leading the contemporary dancehall movement, Busy Signal has been a large part of the scene since 2003, and released his debut single "Step Out" in 2005. A music video for "Step Out" was released shortly afterwards. He was nicknamed Busy Signal by his friends because he is constantly busy. His hit tracks for 2007/2008 were "Nah Go A Jail Again", "Smoke Some High Grade", "Tic Toc" and the track entitled "Unknown Number" has made tremendous airplay and dancehall reviews especially in the Caribbean and the US. He has released a hit dancehall album entitled '' Step Out''. On 22 September 2008, Busy Signal released his second studio album titled '' Loaded'', a 15-track compilation on

VP Records VP Records is an independent Caribbean-owned record label in Queens, New York (state), New York. The label is known for releasing music by notable artists in reggae, dancehall and Soca music, soca. VP Records has offices in New York City, Miami ...

of well known dancehall hits such as "Jail", "Whine Pon Di Edge", "These Are the Days", among others, as well as never-heard-before exclusive tracks such as "People So Evil" and "Hustle Hard". The artist announced the introduction of a self-styled clothing line in 2011. On 21 May 2012, Gordon was arrested at the

Norman Manley International Airport Norman Manley International Airport , formerly Palisadoes Airport, is an international airport serving Kingston, Jamaica and is located south of the island away from the centre of New Kingston. It is the second busiest airport in the country ...

in Jamaica due to an

extradition Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...

warrant from the United States. He was extradited to the US on 19 June where he faced

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

-related charges.Campbell, Howard (2012)
Sales get Busy
, ''

Jamaica Observer ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica. The publication is owned by Butch Stewart, who chartered the paper in January 1993 as a competitor to Jamaica's oldest daily paper, ''The Gleaner''. Its founding editor i ...

'', 27 June 2012, retrieved 1 July 2012 In September 2012 he received a six-month prison sentence.Henry, Paul (2012)
Busy gets six-month sentence
, ''

'', 21 September 2012, retrieved 22 September 2012 He was released in November, and promptly released the single "Come Shock Out".Morgan, Simone (2012)
‘Nah go a jail again’
, ''

'', 25 November 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2012Jackson, Kevin (2012)
Busy Signal 'shocks' out
, ''

'', 23 November 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2012

BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...

ranked ''Reggae Music Again'' No. 7 on their Top 25 Albums of 2012 listing. Busy Signal appears on the

No Doubt No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1986. For most of their career, the band has consisted of vocalist Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal, and drummer Adrian Young. Since the mid-1990s, they ...

album, '' Push and Shove'', collaborating with the band and the production team

Major Lazer Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. It originates from Kingston, Jamaica, and was founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving after t ...

on the title track. He also appears on

's second album ''

Free the Universe ''Free the Universe'' is the second full-length studio album released by Major Lazer, collaborative music group headed by record producer Diplo. The album was released on April 16, 2013, and features appearances by Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig, D ...

'', in the track "

Watch Out For This (Bumaye) "Watch Out for This (Bumaye)" is a song performed by American electronic music group Major Lazer from their album ''Free the Universe''. It features vocals from Jamaican singer Busy Signal and Dutch producers The Flexican and FS Green and was rel ...

", which was a hit single in several European countries. In 2014, he made "Sports Day: Everyone Move", however, he pirated music off of

Hatsune Miku , also called Miku Hatsune, and officially code-named CV01, is a Vocaloid software voicebank developed by Crypton Future Media and its official moe anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mascot character, a 16-year-old girl with long, turquoise bu ...

's cover of the Internet sensation

Ievan Polkka "Ievan polkka" (Finnish for "Ieva's Polka") is a popular Finnish song with lyrics printed in 1928 and written by Eino Kettunen to a traditional Finnish polka tune. The song is sung in an Eastern Savonian dialect spoken in North Karelia. It's s ...

. His ''Parts of the Puzzle'' album was released on 4 October 2019 on VP Records. It entered the ''Billboard'' Reggae Albums chart at number 2.Jackson, Kevin (2019)
Getting Busy on Billboard
, ''

'', 15 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019

Discography

Albums

*2005: '' Step Out'' (

Greensleeves "Greensleeves" is a traditional English folk song. A broadside ballad by the name "A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves" was registered by Richard Jones at the London Stationer's Company in September 1580,Frank Kidson, ''English Fol ...

) *2008: '' Loaded'' ( VP) *2010: ''D.O.B.'' (VP) – US Reggae no. 12 *2012: ''Reggae Music Again'' (VP) – US Reggae no. 5 *2019: ''Parts of the Puzzle'' (VP) – US Reggae no. 2

Singles

As a lead artist

*2005: "Step Out Inna" *2008: "Tic Toc" *2010: "One More Night/Night Shift" *2011 : "Kingston Town" (feat. Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley) *2012: "Come Shock Out" *2013: "Why I Sing" *2013: "Danger Zone" *2014: "Professionally" *2014: "Sports Day: Everyone Move" *2014: "Money Flow" (feat.

Eek-A-Mouse Eek-A-Mouse (born Ripton Joseph Hylton, 19 November 1957) is a Jamaican reggae musician. He is one of the earliest artists to be described as a "singjay".Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rough Guide To Reggae, 3rd edn.", Rough Guides, ...

)

As a featured artist

References

External links

* * *
Busy Signal
on Myspace * {{DEFAULTSORT:Busy Signal Jamaican dancehall musicians Reggae fusion artists Ragga musicians 1982 births Living people Jamaican people imprisoned abroad Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government People extradited from Jamaica People extradited to the United States Jamaican drug traffickers Jamaican reggae musicians people from Saint Ann Parish VP Records artists Greensleeves Records artists