add site
services
publishers
database
health videos
toolbar
stats
live show
health store
more stuff
JOIN/LOGIN
| advertise add site services publishers database health videos
| | about toolbar stats live show health store more stuff JOIN/LOGIN |
Capleton (born Clifton George Bailey III on 13 April 1967 in Saint Mary, Jamaica) is a reggae and dancehall artist. He is also referred to as King Shango, King David, The Fireman and The Prophet. His record label, office, and home for his direct supporters is called David House Productions.
[edit] BiographyHe was a very outspoken boy and became known in his community (Islington, St. Mary) for his profound views, especially those views which pertained to key issues of the time: social injustice and African peoples. His relatives and friends were very surprised by young Clifton and bestowed on him the surname of a popular Jamaican lawyer of the era, Capleton. Capleton believes that he was musically inclined from his youth. He felt as if it were the manifestation of Jah that made him choose a career in music. His main early musical influences were Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh. At that time, Papa San was his favorite DJ because he liked the length of his lyrics and it inspired him to create longer lyrics for his own songs. He is related to Kinjah.[citation needed].[citation needed]. [edit] Early careerIn 1989, he got his first big international exposure. Stewart Brown, owner of a Toronto-based sound called African Star, gave the untested artist his first break, flying him to Canada for a stage show alongside giants like Ninjaman and Flourgan. The appreciation of the audience inspired Capleton; he never looked back. When Capleton first arrived on the scene in the late 1980s, the dancehall was a very different place than it is today. Slackness and gun talk were the order of the day. The present day Rasta Capleton announced his promising arrival with a string of hit songs from "Bumbo Red" to "Number One on the Look Good Chart" and "Woman We Lotion". Everything he touched hit the charts, and established himself as a Dancehall hitmaker. On his return to Jamaica he did the song that began to establish his significant place in Dancehall, "Alms House" in 1992. The tune became a big hit in the dancehall, followed up immediately by "Music is a Mission" and "Tour". In the early 1990s there was a trend away from what were termed as slack songs; these made up almost the entire Dancehall industry; to more conscious, roots oriented songs. Unlike other artists that tried to totally detach themselves for their previous music, Capleton preferred to acknowledge and, later, incorporate his already established 'slack' songs, e.g. "Bumbo Red", in his thesis of consciousness. He has routinely used lyrics from his music before the 1990s to explain his view about controversial points raised in the Jamaican music industry. [edit] Religious viewsAs a member of the Rastafari movement, Capleton belongs to a number of different orders called Mansions of Rastafari. There is the Nyabinghi, which chants death to black and white oppressors. There is also Coptic which is the old Orthodox, Twelve Tribes, and Bobo Ashanti. Capleton sees Rasta as oneness but he endorses the Bobo order because the word Bobo means 'humble thyself'. He advises youth and fans to listen to his music as an international language that speaks to all. [edit] Criticisms
Capleton, has faced criticism for anti-gay lyrics in some of his songs.[1]. His manager has responded that while Capleton's faith does not condone homosexuality.[2]. As part of an agreement to end the Stop Murder Music campaign, Capleton and other artists allegedly signed the Reggae Compassionate Act in 2007.[3][4] [edit] Discography
[edit] References
[edit] External links | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| ↑ top of page ↑ | about thumbshots |
