Noel George Williams (19 September 1943 – 5 January 2015), better known as King Sporty, was a Jamaican DJ,

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 ...

musician, and record producer for the Tashamba and Konduko labels. He is best known for co-writing the song, "

Buffalo Soldier Buffalo Soldiers originally were members of the 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. This nickname was given to the Black Cavalry by Native American tribes who fought in th ...

", made famous by

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 ...

Biography

Born in

Portland, Jamaica Portland, with its capital city, capital town Port Antonio, is a Parishes of Jamaica, parish located on Jamaica's northeast coast. It is situated to the north of Saint Thomas Parish, Jamaica, St Thomas and to the east of Saint Mary Parish, Ja ...

,Campbell, Howard (2015)
King Sporty Is Dead
", ''

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 ...

'', 7 January 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2015 in his early days Sporty rose to become a studio

sideman A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform live with a solo artist, or with a group in which they are not a regular band member. The term is usually used to describe musicians that play with jazz or rock artists, whether solo ...

under

Clement 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 tutelage at Studio One, and recorded for Dodd as a deejay as well as deejaying on Dodd's sound system. In 1965 he released the track "El Cid", credited to King Sporty and Justin Yap. In the early 1970s he moved to Miami, Florida and began producing music there under his Tashamba and Konduko labels. In 1977 Sporty released an album, ''Mr. Rhythm'' on his own Konduko label." King Sporty 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 7 January 2015 He evolved from reggae to

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

to electro to

Miami bass Miami bass (booty music or booty bass) is a subgenre of hip hop music that became popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The use of drums from the Roland TR-808, sustained kick drum, heavy bass, raised dance tempos, and frequently sexually explicit l ...

between the 1970s and 1980s. Sporty found lasting

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

in the

electro funk Electro (or electro- funk)Rap meets ...

canon with Connie Case's "Get on Down" and "Haven't Been Funked Enough", under his Ex Tras moniker when he made licensing deals with

Tommy Boy Records Tommy Boy Entertainment is an American independent record label and multimedia brand founded in 1981 by Tom Silverman. The label is credited with helping and launching the music careers of Queen Latifah, Afrika Bambaataa, Stetsasonic, Digital U ...

in 1982. His original version of "Buffalo Soldier" was released in the late 1970s. Marley first recorded the song in Miami towards the end of the ''Kaya'' tour in 1978.Moskowitz, David V. (2007)
Bob Marley: A Biography
', Greenwood Press, He released the track "Computer Age" in 1992 under the name Sporty and the Laptop. Sporty was married to the American

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

and

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

singer,

Betty Wright Bessie Regina Norris (December 21, 1953 – May 10, 2020), better known by her stage name Betty Wright, was an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter and background vocalist. Beginning her professional career in the late 1960s as a teena ...

. International Reggae and World Music Awards – IRAWMA honored Mr. Williams with their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. In 2013 Sporty's song "Self Destruct" was sampled by

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

for his song "That Girl" on his ''

The 20/20 Experience ''The 20/20 Experience'' is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake. It was released on March 15, 2013, by RCA Records, as the follow-up to his second studio album ''FutureSex/LoveSounds'' (2006). It is considered ...

'' album. He died on 5 January 2015 in Miami, Florida, aged 71.

Group names used

*King Sporty & The Root Rockers *King Sporty and the Ex Tras *Noel Williams & The Extra Funk Factory *Sporty & The Laptop

Discography

*''Deep Reggae Roots'' (1976), Konduko *''Mr. Rhythm'' (1977), Konduko *''Extra Funky'' (1983), Dancefloor *''Meet Me at the Disco'' (1983), Dancefloor

References

External links

Discography at Roots-archives.comJamaica's first Dub Poets
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sporty, King 1943 births 2015 deaths People from Portland Parish Jamaican male songwriters Jamaican reggae musicians Jamaican record producers