Mega Banton (born Garth Williams, 1974) 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 dancehall

deejay A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...

who came to prominence in the early 1990s.

Biography

Williams 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 ...

, in 1973.Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, , p. 19.Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall'', Greenwood Press, , p. 21. Inspired by the likes of

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 ...

and

Buju Banton Mark Anthony Myrie (born 15 July 1973),Larkin, Colin (1998) "The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae", Virgin Books, professionally known by his stage name Buju Banton, is a Jamaican reggae dancehall musician. He is considered to be one of the most ...

, and with a similar gruff style of delivery, he achieved international success in the early 1990s with singles such as "First Position", "Decision", "No Ninja, No Buju", and "Sound Boy Killing", working with the

Black Scorpio Black Scorpio is a Jamaican sound system and record label run by Maurice "Jack Scorpio" Johnson. History Johnson had started to operate a single turntable and speaker sound system in 1968 and started the Special I sound system in 1972, changing ...

team. He recorded a duet with

Leroy Smart Leroy Smart (born 1952), is a reggae singer-songwriter and record producer from Kingston, Jamaica. Biography Smart was born in 1952 and orphaned at the age of two. He was raised at Maxfield Park Children's Home and educated at Alpha Boys Scho ...

("Mr. Want All"), and in 1994 courted controversy with his single "Money First", for which he was accused of encouraging women into a life of

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

. When

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 ...

died, Banton released the "A Tribute to Garnett Silk" single, along with Sattalite. In 1988 he had a combination hit with

Barrington Levy Barrington Ainsworth Levy (born 30 April 1964) is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist. Career Levy was born in Clarendon, Jamaica. He formed a band called the Mighty Multitude, with his cousin, Everton Dacres; the pair released "My Bl ...

with "She's Mine". In 1995 he made his major-label album debut with ''1,000,000 Megwatts''. He is still performing, well into the 2000s.

Discography

*''First Position'' (1992),

(reissued (2001) VP) *''Showcase'' (1993), VP (with

Ricky General Ricky may refer to: Places *Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic *Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic *Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky" ...

) *''New Year New Style'' (1995), Black Scorpio/ Shanachie *''1,000,000 Megawatts'' (1995), Relativity

References

External links

Mega Banton
on Myspace {{DEFAULTSORT:Banton, Mega 1974 births Jamaican dancehall musicians Jamaican reggae musicians Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Living people