Karen Mason, one of the Jamaican music executives responsible for helping to break reggae acts in the United States during the 1990’s, died in Atlanta, Georgia on March 22.
Her daughter Kenya James confirmed her death in a statement, writing that her mother had “left the spiritual realm.”
She also said in a Facebook post that Mason had bravely fought breast cancer for 11 years.
Mason was originally from rural St. James parish in Jamaica.
She initially made her name in marketing at Columbia Records, then moved on to Elektra Records which had a strong lineup of urban acts on its EastWest Records subsidiary.
Nadine Sutherland and Beres Hammond were signed to EastWest and had considerable success, thanks to Mason.
In 1994, Sutherland and deejay Terror Fabulous had a big hit for the company with Action, a catchy dancehall single.
“Karen, I think, made a lot of marketing decisions for East West/Elektra during the ’90’s. She understood Jamaican culture and American culture, she knew how to find the commonality in both,” said Sutherland. “She knew the thread that binds them together.”
Mason and fellow Jamaican Maxine Stowe had an influential presence at major American record labels in the 1990’s. At the time, many of those companies were showing interest in signing dancehall and reggae artists.
In recent years, Karen Mason shared her music industry expertise with her homeland by appearing as a judge on the Rising Stars talent contest and guest speaker at the Jamaica Music Conference.
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