Big Youth

In the pre-history of rap, the Jamaican style known as toasting, speaking in rhyme over records, figures prominently. And few toasters had a greater impact in the ‘70s than Big Youth, whose career during much of the decade is celebrated on the three-CD set Natty Universal Dread.

"His work then had some of the greatest mold-breaking deejay records," assessed reggae historian Steve Barrow, whose Blood and Fire label has issued the collection. "He was the first one to bring the culture into it and coined a lot of phrases like ‘natty dread.'"

Big Youth, born Manley Augustus Buchanan, was already a devout Rastaman when he began toasting in March 1971 with the Lord Tippertone Sound System (essentially a massive mobile disco). He'd grown up singing, with American artists like Dionne Warwick as his idols, but turned to speaking because "that was my way of getting my expression across. It was something that was in me, the Almighty put me there to make my comments, and the sound system was in my reach."

"He was the first one to bring the culture into it and coined a lot of phrases like ‘natty dread.'"

Toasting had already become a reggae art form, thanks to artists like U-Roy, who had been scoring hits since 1970. Under the direction of producers like Gregory Isaacs and Gussie Clarke, Youth soon found himself in the studio, and within a year had seven singles on the chart simultaneously. But in 1973 he chose to walk away from that and release material his own label, Negusa Nagast.

"The producers were looking after themselves, and not taking care of any artists," he asserted. "So I thought I should start doing my own thing." He took War's "The World Is A Ghetto," turned it upside down with a reggae beat and called it "Streets In Africa," adding his own spiritually and politically conscious vision, culled from his Rastafarian beliefs, and his raw ghetto voice. When he issued it he "saw more financially than from the other seven hits."

As an independent producer and artist, his reputation and success continued, and he was able "to reach to other people in the world, and I made my commitment through my words." As he notes, it was a time of raised consciousness, when "they got Marley out, Peter Tosh out. In those days we had less violence, people weren't preaching the gun and disrespect to women."

But it also offered him a way out of the Kingston ghetto where he'd been living. While he jokingly remarked that "ghetto means get out, and I was trying to get out," there's a seriousness behind his laughter.

The next few years were among the most creative of his career. While he enjoyed a few hits as a singer, usually covering British or American standards, his focus was on the toasting. Sometimes the two blended, as on his version of Ray Charles' "Hit The Road Jack" which "sold so many copies, and we made an album from it. It's still one of my favorites." But he also retains a deep fondness for "I Pray Thee Continually" with its deep Rasta vibe.

As with most roots reggae artists, the rise of dancehall and ragga weren't kind to Big Youth, and he doesn't have many kind words for the newer sound.

"People are pushing mediocrity. There's nothing to uplift the music or the people. Reggae music is a tool for teaching. Reggae is the truth music, and they're not preaching the truth today."

But with a growing resurgence of roots activity, Youth is back in the spotlight. As well as this collection, he will release an new album, Misinformation, in March, still using his Negusa Negast label.

Blood and Fire is also planning more from the man who "mashed them all up from ‘70 on," according to label head Barrow.

"We're going to follow up with more Big Youth material over the next few years. I'm preparing an album of outside productions to come out on a new subsidiary next year." And the new Youth promises to be very similar to the old Youth, still trying to touch everyone with his words.

"I never changed my music, my style, or my beat. I'm catering for people young and old. When you can make a baby or a great-grandmother dance, you know you're reaching out."

This article first appeared on sonicnet.com

Big Youth

"He was the first one to bring the culture into it and coined a lot of phrases like ‘natty dread.'"

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