YAMI BOLO…FROM THEN UNTIL NOW!

By Howard Campbell—

Yami Bolo—

Not every artiste whose careers started as children got their break through mainstream radio. Many of them, such as Yami Bolo, did lengthy apprenticeships on sound systems before they recorded a note.

Yami Bolo is from the Greenwich Farm area of Kingston 13 which produced numerous stars including John Holt, Cornel Campbell and Johnny Clarke, as well as legendary producer Bunny Lee. He started his career in the early 1980s, singing on hometown ‘sounds’ like Third World and Sir Aston The Great Ribbit.

As talk of his talent spread, he was recruited by established camps like Stereo Mars, Kilamanjaro, Stur Gav and Youthman Promotions. The latter was owned by Sugar Minott, whose own career launched in the early 1970s on sound systems.

Sugar Minott produced Yami Bolo’s first songs including the original version of True Love (made popular by White Mice) but he was slow in releasing them. His next stop was Joe Gibbs but he was not impressed with the teenaged artiste.

In 1986, Yami Bolo got his break with Winston Riley, whose Techniques label was then one of the hottest camps in dancehall music. Riley was prompted to record him by a popular friend.

Yami Bolo with his guitar and original Youth Promotion singer Casseyman (Photo: Beth Lesser | Large Up.com)

“Tenor Saw did a record fi Winston Riley an’ Tenor Saw tell Riley sey, ‘da youth ya is a good singer’. And Winston Riley record mi…di day him (Tenor Saw) a do Ring The Alarm, a da day mi do Gotta Tek it Easy, an’ from dey suh di journey start into di recording vibration,” Yami Bolo recalled.

Gotta tek it Easy’s actual title is When A Man is in Love. Like Ring The Alarm, it is recorded on the vaunted Stalag rhythm that has made classics out of songs such as Arleen by General Echo. Bolo was 15 years old at the time he recorded it, one of three songs he cut during that session for Riley.

Sugar Minott eventually released True Love but diehard dancehall fans associate the song with White Mice.

In the late 1980s, Yami Bolo’s life took a spiritual turn. He embraced Rastafari, recorded and toured with Augustus Pablo, Junior Delgado and guitarist Earl “Chinna” Smith.

In the 1990s, he was linked to Island Jamaica Records for which he had hit songs like Love my Woman with Sly and Robbie. Other hits during that decade were La Isla Bonita, Love is Dangerous, a big seller in Japan; and Put Down Your Weapon (with Capleton).

Yami Bolo, who lives in New York, released the album, Jah Love Will Rule The World.