S. Frederick Small (born 1965), better known as Daddy Freddy, is a Jamaican

ragga Raggamuffin music, usually abbreviated as ragga, is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music. Similar to hip hop, sampling often serves a prominent role in raggamuffin music. Wayne Sm ...

vocalist.

Early life

Small was born in

Kingston, 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 Inter ...

, and grew up in the city's

Trenchtown Trench Town (also Trenchtown) is a neighbourhood located in the parish of St. Andrew, part of which is in Kingston, the capital and largest city of Jamaica. In the 1960s, Trench Town was known as the Hollywood of Jamaica. Today Trench Town is t ...

district.Huey, Steve
Daddy Freddy Biography
",

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, retrieved 2011-02-14 His house was a few minutes walk from

Coxsone Dodd Clement Seymour "Coxsone" Dodd (26 January 1932 – 4 May 2004) was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond. He was nicknamed "Coxsone" at school due to his talent a ...

's influential record studio Studio One. His neighbours were Jacob Miller and

Ranking Joe Ranking Joe Little Joe (born Joseph Jackson, 1 July 1959, Kingston, Jamaica) is a reggae deejay who rose to prominence in the 1970s and had continuing success in the 1980s. Biography Jackson was initially inspired towards a musical career by h ...

. Ranking Joe took Freddy under his wing and taught him the basics skills of performing. Freddy's natural ability meant he was quickly enlisted to work with Lt. Stichie (of "Natty Dread" fame) and then later with

Sugar Minott Lincoln Barrington "Sugar" Minott (25 May 1956 – 10 July 2010)Campbell, Howard (2010)Reggae singer Sugar Minott dies at 54, Associated Press, 11 July 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2010Peru, Yasmine (2010)Godfather of Dancehall, Sugar Minott, dead at ...

. It was performing on Minott's soundsystem that founded Freddy's fame in

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 ...

. He recorded his first single ("Zoo Party") in 1985 for Studio One.

Gaining fame

He released his first album, ''Body Lasher'', in 1986, and that year had six top ten hits in Jamaica, including a number one with "Joker Lover", a collaboration with

Pinchers Delroy Thompson (born 12 April 1965), better known by his stage name Pinchers, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist. He released one album as a teenager in Jamaica for Blue Trac Records, before moving to the UK in 1985. In his career ...

. After successful touring in the US under the Chrysalis record label, Freddy came to England in 1987. His first UK work was a

collaboration Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...

with Asher D called, ''Raggamuffin Hip-Hop''. This album created a new style of music that was a fusion of Jamaican

and UK hip-hop. The anthemic title track has the much sampled vocal, "The ragga-muffin, the ragga-muffin, hip-hop". Freddy also managed to influence and support fledgling UK reggae stars,

Top Cat ''Top Cat'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and originally broadcast in prime time on the ABC network. It aired in a weekly evening time slot from September 27, 1961, to April 18, 1962, for a single season of ...

Tenor Fly Jonathan Sutter (7 July 1967 – 17 June 2016), better known by his stage name Tenor Fly, was a British singer and rapper. He rose to prominence in the ragga movement of the early 1990s. Sutter was a solo artist and later a member of Freestyle ...

and Prento Youth who went on to the legendary Coxsone Sound and the record label Congo Natty. This album created even more interest for Freddy. Artists such as

Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...

Cypress Hill Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide and have multi-platinum and platinum albums. They are considered to be among the main progenitors of West Coast and 1990 ...

, David Morales and

Norman Cook Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...

all requested collaborations and others like

The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboard player and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured dancer and singer Keith Flint and dancer and occasional l ...

Meli'sa Morgan Joyce Melissa Morgan (usually spelled Meli'sa; born December 6, 1964) is an American R&B/Soul singer–songwriter. Morgan had a string of urban contemporary hits from the mid–1980s to the mid–1990s. Most notable include her cover version of ...

("Through the Tears"),

Salt 'n' Pepa Salt-N-Pepa (also stylized as Salt 'N' Pepa or Salt 'N Pepa) is an American hip-hop group formed in New York City in 1985, that comprised Salt (Cheryl James), Pepa (Sandra Denton), and DJ Spinderella (Deidra Roper). Their debut album, ''Hot, C ...

and

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from New York City. He rose to prominence as part of ...

all sampled his unique voice. This fame culminated in Freddy attempting and breaking the World Record for World's fastest rapper in 1989 as part of the Capital radio Music Festival. Eventually Freddy broke the record four times taking it from 346 to 598 syllables a minute. First and second time in UK (in Covent Garden and on BBC's ''

Record Breakers ''Record Breakers'' was a British children's TV show, themed around world records and produced by the BBC. It was broadcast on BBC1 from 15 December 1972 to 21 December 2001. It was originally presented by Roy Castle with Guinness World Record ...

'' show where he appeared with

Roy Castle Roy Castle (31 August 1932 – 2 September 1994) was an English dancer, singer, comedian, actor, television presenter and musician. In addition to being an accomplished jazz trumpet player, he could play many other instruments. Following a vers ...

) and two times in America (New York Empire State Building and in Washington). Renowned live performances have always been Freddy's hallmark, most notably at the New Music Seminar in New York and Tim Westwoods live rap shows on Capital radio. He was signed to

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Ag ...

in 1991 by A&R VP Duff Marlowe, joining Gang Starr and Arrested Development as part of Marlowe's stateside re-make of the UK rock label, releasing the album ''Stress''.

Career break

By the end of the 1990s Freddy was exhausted. His hectic life-style had taken it out of him so he found time to return to Jamaica and re-discover his roots. Whilst he still lent vocals to prominent dancehall tracks in Jamaica his next major work did not come until he came back to the UK, with a new lease of life. Freddy teamed up with renowned dub producer

The Rootsman John Bolloten, also known as The Rootsman, is a musician and DJ based in Bradford, England. Bolloten is also a social documentary photographer. Early life Bolloten was born in Brighton. He moved to Scotland at the age of nine.Amateur Photogra ...

in 2000 to make the new album, ''Old School – New School'' (Third Eye Music). Since then Freddy has relocated to Bristol, UK where he has been making new music - often teaming up with Blackout JA - and recording and training dancehall artists.

Discography

Albums

*'' Body Lasher'' (1986) *'' Ragamuffin Hip-Hop'' (with Asher D) (1988) *''Cater Fe She'' (1989) *''

Stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...

'' (1991) *'' Raggamuffin Soldier'' (1992) *'' The Big One'' (1994) *''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

'' (1996) *'' Old School New School'' (with

) (2000) *''

Hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

'' (2004)

Singles

*"Ragamuffin Hip Hop" (with Asher D), Music of Life (1988) (Profile/Arista/BMG US) *"Brutality" (with Asher D), Music of Life (1988) *"Summertime" (with Asher D), Music of Life (1988) *"We Are the Champions" (with Asher D), Chrysalis/EMI (1989) *"Daddy Freddy's in Town", Chrysalis (1990) *"Ragga House" (with Simon Harris), Music of Life (1990) *"Respect", Music of Life (1990) *"Don't Stop the Music", Living Beat Rec (1990) *"Freddy's Back" (with Duke/Royal Family), Music of Life (1990) *"The Crown", Music of Life (1991) *"Haul and Pull", Chrysalis (1992) *"Dancehall Clash" (with Tenor Fly), Live (1992) *"Respect Due" (with Heavy D & Frankie Paul), Music of Life (1993) *"Respect Due" (Sly & Robbie Remixes), Music of Life (1993) *"Pain Killa", Music of Life (1994) *"Freddy's in the Jungle" (Japanese single) (1997) *"War" (2002) *"Muggle" (Ragga Meridional Crew) (2007) *"Can't Take This No More" (with

The Bug "The Bug" is a song written by Mark Knopfler and originally performed by Dire Straits on the final studio album by the band, '' On Every Street'' (1991). It was covered by Mary Chapin Carpenter in 1992, and also recorded on the albums ''Blues B ...

), Acid Ragga/

Ninja Tune Ninja Tune is an English independent record label based in London. It has a satellite office in Los Angeles. It was founded by Matt Black and Jonathan More (better known as Coldcut) and managed by Peter Quicke and others. Inspired by a visit ...

(2012) *"Ganja Baby" (with The Bug), Acid Ragga/Ninja Tune (2012)

Compilation and guest appearances

*1989: ''Kreem of the Krop''; songs: "Dance Hall Clash", "Must Want A Man", "Rude Boy" and "Advert" *1989: ''

Hustlers Convention (Music Of Life) Hustlers Convention may refer to: * Hustlers Convention (house duo) * ''Hustlers Convention'' (Lightnin' Rod album) *''Hustlers Convention'', a compilation album by Music of Life {{Disambig ...

''; song: "Live Jam", "The Ragamuffin Duo Take Charge", "Come Selector" and "Grand Finale" *1989: ''Silver On Black''; song "Londons Finest" by Simon Harris featuring Asher D and Daddy Freddy *1993: ''

Music (311 album) ''Music'' is the debut studio album by Omaha alternative rock band 311. It was released on February 9, 1993. "Do You Right" was released as a single. The album was certified Gold in 1999 by the RIAA, having sold over 500,000 copies. Background ...

''; Special Guest on song "Nix Hex" by 311 *2003 ''Politicians and Paedophiles'' and ''Run the Place Red'' on The Bug album ''Pressure'' *2003: '' Smojphace EP''; song "Run The Place Red (AFX Mix)" *2007: '' Vavamuffin''; song "Poor people (feat. Daddy Freddy)" *2012 '' Drużyna Mistrzów compilation'' –

Firma Firma may refer to: * Firma, Missouri, a ghost town in the United States * Firma (supporter group), a Serbian football fan club *''Firma'', a monthly magazine supplement to the ''Globes (newspaper)'' newspaper * ''Firma'' (TV series), a 2005 Finni ...

, Daddy Freddy, Młody Bosski "Fi Di Youths"

References

External links

Heroes Of UK Hip Hop Daddy Freddy Page

official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daddy Freddy Jamaican rappers Living people 1965 births musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Chrysalis Records artists Ragga musicians