Ranking Dread (born Winston Brown; – 1996)Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall'', Greenwood Press, , p. 246.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2003) ''The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn'',

Rough Guides Rough Guides Ltd is a British travel guide book and reference publisher, which has been owned by APA Publications since November 2017. In addition to publishing guidebooks, the company also provides a tailor-made trips service based on custome ...

, , p. 274. was 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

and was born in the Jamaican parish of Trelawny but grew up in the Kingston ghettos of Rema and Tivoli. He became famous for his work with the Ray Symbolic sound system in the 1970s. His later years in the UK and North America were ended by legal issues.

Biography

Ranking Dread first became known as a deejay on the Ray Symbolic sound system in Jamaica, but by the late 1970s he had moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, where he worked with Lloyd Coxsone's sound system. He released four albums starting with ''Girls Fiesta'' in 1978, produced by

Linval Thompson Leval Alphonso Thompson (born 12 October 1954, Kingston, Jamaica), also known as Linval Thompson, is a Jamaican reggae and dub musician and record producer. Biography Thompson was raised in Kingston, Jamaica, but spent time with his mother in ...

, and worked with producer

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 ...

on his third album, ''Lots of Loving''. He had a minor UK hit in the early 1980s with "Fattie Boom Boom", but in the mid-1980s, he faded from the music scene and became more notorious for his criminal activities, where he was labelled "the most dangerous man in Britain and the number one Yardie Godfather".Thompson, Tony (2001),
Two more die on 'murder mile'
, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 22 April 2001. This was backed up by his appearance on a British television programme in the late 1980s entitled

The Cook Report ''The Cook Report'' was a British ITV current affairs television programme presented by Roger Cook which was broadcast from 22 July 1987 to 24 August 1999. The series featured the journalist investigating corruption, criminals, government so ...

. However, when interviewed by TV Journalist Ben Chin in 1990 for a Canadian TV documentary, he denied all allegations put to him. He had been involved with Jamaican gang leader

Claude Massop Claude Massop (16 April 1949 – 4 February 1979) was the leader and strongman of the Phoenix Gang, later renamed the Shower Posse, belonging to Tivoli Gardens, Wellington Street, Rema, Denham Town and the surrounding areas of West Kingston, J ...

, and was wanted by Jamaican police in connection with over thirty murders. He travelled to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, where he lived under several aliases including Errol Codling, became the head of a Hackney drug-dealing and

armed robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

gang,Pitts, John (2008) ''Reluctant Gangsters: The Changing Face of Youth Crime'', Willan Publishing, , p. 86. and was wanted by the police there. He was arrested at an illegal drinking club in 1988 and found to be in possession of illegal drugs and deported later that year, officially for entering the country illegally, after being branded the most dangerous foreign national living in Britain.O'Hanlon, Terry (1996)
"Storm as Yardie gangsters sneak back into Britain"
'' Sunday Mirror'', 21 July 1996. In 1990, after being deported from the United States, he was arrested in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

for allegedly slashing his girlfriend's face with a knife after entering the country illegally on a fake passport, and attempted to gain refugee status there, claiming that he feared for his life in Jamaica due to his political affiliations.Refugee Reject Passes Our Test
, ''

Simcoe Reformer The ''Simcoe Reformer'' is a newspaper circulating in Norfolk County, Ontario and Haldimand County, Ontario, both in Canada. The ''Reformer'' is published weekdays. History In 1858, Dr William H. Oliver, who had written for and edited a number o ...

'', 21 March 1990. He was eventually extradited back to Jamaica where he died in prison in 1996.

Discography

Albums

*''Girls Fiesta'' (1978), Burning Sounds *''Kunta Kinte Roots'' (1979), Burning Sounds *''Lots of Loving'' (1980), Stand Firm *''Ranking Dread in Dub'' (1982), Silver Camel *''2 Dread Inna Babylon'' (2006), Silver Kamel (with

Massive Dread Massive Dread (born Dennis James; c. 1960, in Trenchtown, Jamaica – 1994) was a reggae deejay who first recorded in the late 1970s for Tapper Zukie, and came to prominence in the early 1980s, touring with Byron Lee and The Dragonaires.Larkin, C ...

) *''Most Wanted'' (2007),

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 Fo ...

Singles

*''Disco E.P. Showcase'' (EP) (1980), Art & Craft *"I Don't Want To Be No General" (1980), D.E.B. *"Fattie Boom Boom" (1981), Greensleeves *"Poor Man Story" (1981), Live And Love *"Wah We Do" (1981), Live And Love *"My Mammy" (1982), Greensleeves *"Shut Me Mouth" (1982), Greensleeves *"Stylelily" (1998), High Power Music *"Love A Dub" (2007), Greensleeves

References

External links

DiscographyRanking Dread
at Roots Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Ranking Dread 1950s births 1996 deaths Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Jamaican reggae musicians Yardies