Founded in the summer of 1969, Killamanjaro 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 ...

n sound system best known for their clashes and large amount of classic

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 ...

dubplate 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. It is owned by Noel "Papa Jaro" Harper and named after Mount

Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...

. The name was changed to "Killamanjaro" after having established a reputation of being a good clash sound. "Jaro" is notable for being a top sound in both the live-artist era of the 1980s, where it launched the careers of top

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 ...

artists at the time, such as

Early B Earlando Arrington Neil, better known by his stage name Early B, was an early dancehall and reggae deejay whose lyrics had a cultural bent, noted mainly in his hits ''Visit of King Selassie'', ''History of Jamaica'' and ''Wheely Wheely'', the ...

Super Cat William Anthony Maragh (born 25 June 1963),Huey, Steve " Super Cat Biography, Allmusic, retrieved 18 July 2010 also known as Super Cat, is a Jamaican deejay who achieved widespread popularity during the late 1980s and early 1990s dancehall mo ...

, Jim Kelly,

Burro Banton Burro Banton (born Donovan Spalding; 27 December 1956 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a dancehall reggae deejay popular in the mid-1980s and 1990s. He is most famous for his anthem "Boom Wah Dis", which was recorded on the Steely & Clevie riddim cal ...

, Puddy Roots, and

Ninjaman Desmond John Ballentine (born January 24, 1966), better known as Ninjaman, and sometimes as Don Gorgon is a Jamaican dancehall deejay and actor, known for his controversial and pro-gun lyrics and his stuttering and melodramatic style. In 2017, he ...

, and the 1990s dubplate era, where the sound went on a soundclash killing spree behind selector/mic man Ricky Trooper.The contemporaries
, ''

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 ...

'', 9 November 2012, retrieved 10 November 2012 Killamanjaro have played globally, including winning the

World Clash World Clash is an annual reggae reggae sound system, sound system sound clash, clash. The World Sound Clash was started by World Promotion in 1993, the first clash was at the Roller express in London. Bodyguard sound system was the first world soun ...

twice and touring the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. They were also involved with what many consider the "greatest clash of all-time",Jaro attacks in self-defense
''Jamaica Gleaner''. 28 January 2007. King Addies (USA) vs. Killamanjaro (Jamaica). In 1999, Killamanjaro released a tribute album to

Garnett Silk Garnett Silk (born Garnet Damion Smith; 2 April 1966 – 9 December 1994) was a Jamaican reggae musician and Rastafarian, known for his diverse, emotive, powerful and smooth voice. During the early 1990s he was hailed as a rising talent, howeve ...

, ''Killamanjaro remembers Garnett Silk''.

References

External links

Official website
{{reggae Jamaican sound systems