Jamaican reggae singer and record producer Rupie Edwards was born Rupert Lloyd Edwards on July 4, 1945 in Goshen. After his family moved to Kingston while Edwards was a young teenager, he began entering local talent competitions. He kept at it and had his first single released in 1962. A few years later he formed a band called the Ambassadors who evolved into the Virtues, and although that endeavor gave him the first opportunity to produce recordings, the band fell apart by the end of the 1960s. He achieved success as a producer in the immediate aftermath, forming his own record labels. He returned to a recording career with 1974’s Yamaha Skank, which pioneered the style of using an existing popular musical track and building songs around it, creating what would become known as the “one-riddim” album. He scored a top 10 UK hit with the track “Ire Feelings”, and reached the top 40 there again with the follow-up, “Leggo Skanga”. He moved to England where his success streak continued with albums such as 1976’s Jamaica Serenade and issued a number of singles with artists like Shorty the President. He is often credited as one of the initial artists to bring dub to an audience outside Jamaica.
