BLACK SCORPIO VS JAMMYS @ Birmingham 1990

King Jammy, born Lloyd James in Montego Bay, Jamaica, was the undisputed king of computerized digital reggae music during the '80s, as well as a highly reputable producer of dub and roots reggae throughout his lengthy, monumental career. While he established his credentials during the '70s and early '80s (when he was known as Prince Jammy) through seminal production work for Black Uhuru and Sugar Minott as well as dub albums with genre pioneers King Tubby and Scientist, he singlehandedly changed the face of reggae with his all-electronic production of Wayne Smith's 1985 hit "Under Me Sleng Teng," ushering in the digital dancehall era. Following Tubby's untimely death in 1989, Jammy took the crown, and continued to be one of reggae's most prolific, innovative producers. He worked with dancehall stars such as Beenie Man and Bounty Killer during the '90s and 2000s, while making off-the-wall dub albums, including collaborations with Mad Professor and Dry & Heavy. He remained active into his seventies, working with roots and dancehall artists like Alborosie and U-Roy on 2016's New Sounds of Freedom, and continuing to push the limits of dub with 2017's Waterhouse Dub.

Maurice "Jack Scorpio" Johnson. had started to operate a single turntable and speaker sound system in 1968 and started the Special I sound system in 1972, changing the name to Black Scorpio after the name caused friction in the area in which it was based, with the largely People's National Party-supporting locals suspecting sympathies with the Jamaica Labour Party due to its similarity to that party's slogan. Also known as 'The Horseman Sound' to the close association of Johnson (who owned racehorses) and deejays that worked on the sound system (General Trees and Lord Sassafrass) with horse racing, it rose to become one of the top sounds in Jamaica. Other deejays who worked on the system included Culture Lee, Shukashine, Barry Bak, and Lady G. Black Scorpio expanded into a record label in the early 1980s with a studio on Molynes Road in the Drewsland area of Kingston. Johnson had his first hit as producer in 1982 with "Pink Eye" by DJ Sassafrass, the pair having a bigger hit in 1985 with "Pocomania Jump", and Black Scorpio went on to become one of the top labels of the early era of ragga.