Beenie Man

Brought up amid Jamaica's legendary soundsystem scene, Beenie Man started toasting and MC-ing at the age of five before winning a local talent contest and releasing his debut single Too Fancy just three years later in 1981. The young star reappeared in the 1990s as a fast-talking dancehall DJ and came to national fame when a rivalry with Bounty Killer was settled on the joint album Guns Out (1994). Signing to Island Records, he gained international recognition with Blessed (1995) before Who Am I (Sim Simma) reached Number 10 in the UK charts to become his biggest hit. Art & Life (2000) won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album and Beenie Man duetted with Janet Jackson on the single Feel It Boy, but his inflammatory lyrics inspired a torrent of accusations of homophobia and many of his shows in Britain were cancelled as a result. The self-proclaimed "King of the Dancehall", Beenie Man has worked with Akon, Wyclef Jean and Pharrell Williams and continues to mesmerise with his ragga rhymes and funky reggae rhythms.

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