U Roy, arguably the most influential figure in dancehall music, is being hailed for his impact as a groundbreaking deejay and sound system owner.
He died January 17 in Kingston, Jamaica at age 78 at the University Hospital of the West Indies. His family said he had recently undergone kidney surgery.
His unique toasting style first became popular in the late 1960s on the King Tubby Hi Fi sound system which was owned by legendary audio engineer Osbourne “King Tubby” Ruddock.
Though he first recorded for producer Keith Hudson in the late 1960’s, it was not until he linked with Duke Reid that U Roy found success. He toasted to hit songs like Alton Ellis’ Girl I’ve Got A Date and Wear You to The Ball by The Paragons which were massive hits.
U Roy and singer Hopeton Lewis also had a big hit for Reid in 1970 with Tom Drunk.
Producer/engineer Lloyd “King Jammy” James knew U Roy from his days at King Tubby where James was chief engineer. He believes that is where the artist made his biggest mark.
“His greatest contribution was with Tubby’s. He was also the selector and he would deejay without stopping; before that, deejays would start and stop,” said James.
In the 1970’s, U Roy started his own sound system, Stur Gav, which nurtured the careers of upcoming acts like Charlie Chaplin, Josey Wales and Super Cat who were all from the Cockburn Gardens community where U Roy lived.
Perhaps the biggest honor of his storied career came in November, 2019 at the REEWIND event at Club Amazura in Queens, New York.
U Roy was crowned dancehall king by Shabba Ranks, the Grammy-winning deejay who also performed with Stur Gav early in his career.
“To di godfather of di music, di father who set it! Di greatest deejay of all times! God greatest creation toward our music. We will never, ever, ever, ever si or have another man fi represent di music like Daddy Roy,” Shabba declared. “Daddy Roy is di Picasso of our music.”
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