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b.
Clifton George Bailey III, 13 April 1967, Islington, St.
Mary, Jamaica, West Indies. Bailey earned his future stage
name by virtue of his sharp reasoning skills, which led his
friends to name him after a lawyer in his home town. By
1994, Capleton's work for the African Star label had led to
him being regarded as one of the most innovative cultural
DJs of his generation. "Number One (On The Good Look Chart)"
on Jah Life first caught the attention of the dancehall
audience in 1990 and was Capleton's debut hit. Capleton Gold
was released in 1991 and compiled many of his recordings for
various producers, including Philip "Fatis" Burrell ("Bumbo
Red"/"Bible Fi Dem"), King Jammy ("The Red"), Roof
International ("Dem No Like Me"), Peterkins ("We No Lotion
Man") and Black Scorpio ("Ghetto Youth"/"Somebody"). In the
same year he sang on half an album for Gussie P ("Double
Trouble"), combined with Johnny Osbourne on "Special Guest"
on Outernational, released several tracks for African Star
and duetted on "Young, Fresh And Green" with Bobby Zarro. He
visited the UK with Pan Head in December amid controversy
over a shooting at a London venue. He also recorded "Dance
Can't Done" for the Brixton-based label, Jungle Rock.
On his return to Jamaica, Capleton began recording for
Burrell's Exterminator label. "Almshouse" (1992) was a
rallying cry for unification through music and demonstrated
that Capleton could address social and cultural topics with
the same perceptiveness as his characteristic "slackness".
In a successful year, he released an album for Burrell and
had hits with "F.C.T.", "Matey A Dead", "Make Hay" and "Unno
Hear". In 1993, he maintained his profile with the singles
"Everybody Needs Somebody", "Mankind" for Colin Fat, "Good
Love", "Stampede" for Mad House, "Cold Blooded Murderer" for
Black Scorpio and the rabid "Buggering" for African Star. He
also recorded combinations with Brian And Tony Gold and
Nadine Sutherland, and worked with Gussie Clarke. In the
USA, a hip-hop mix of the smash hit "Tour" prompted Def Jam
Records to sign him for the remarkable Prophecy. The
forthright I-Testament saw Capleton at the peak of his
powers.
Discography:
with Ninjaman, Tony Rebel Real Rough (1990)***, We No Lotion
Man (Charm 1991)***, Capleton Gold (Charm 1991)****, with
General Levy Double Trouble (Gussie P. 1991)***, with Cutty
Ranks, Reggie Stepper Three The Hard Way (Techniques
1991)***, Almshouse (Exterminator 1993)***, Prophecy (Def
Jam/African Star 1995)****, I-Testament (Def Jam/Mercury
1997)****, More Fire (David House/VP 2000)****.
Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Copyright Muze UK Ltd. 1989 - 2002
http://www.theiceberg.com/artist/4602/capleton/
real name Clifton George Bailey III
place of birth Islington, St Mary, Jamaica - 13 April 1967
residence Jamaica
career specialty Vocals
biggest single -
producers Philip 'Fatis' Burrell, King Jammys, Black Scorpio
best album -
contact info c/o Stuart Brown
5 Halart Drive, Kingston 6 - Jamaica W.I
Tel (876) 927-3008
affiliation -
Biography
Capleton has been tearing down the dancehalls in Jamaica,
North America and beyond since the dawn of the '90s.
One of a large family, he was a troubled youth who found
solace in music, begging from the age of 12 to attend as
many dances as he could. When he was 18, he moved to
Kingston and while honing his deejay skills with local sound
systems, worked assorted odd jobs.
Capleton got his big break when he was asked to audition for
a Toronto, Canada-based sound system, African Star. Capleton
so impressed owner Stewart Brown that he hired the youth on
the spot. It was while performing in Toronto that Capleton
began making a name for himself.
Photo courtesy Dancehall Reggae Productions
Word of his talent spread to Jamaica and when he returned he
immediately signed with producer Fattis Burrell and recorded
his first dancehall hit "Bumbo Red," which was too
explicitly slack to be played on mainstream radio. It was
popular on the underground circuit though.
More rude singles followed until he turned his life around
with Rastafariansim in the early '90s. With Marcus Garvey,
Haile Selassie and Emmanuel as his newfound spiritual and
moral models, Capleton's formerly slack lyrics turned
towards social and cultural consciousness, Jah-praise and
Rasta-influenced spiritual love. He also calls the youth to
rise up to high moral ground and chastises those responsible
for furthering poverty, oppression and racism.
Many have compared Capleton's style to that of Peter Tosh,
one of his chief musical inspirations. - Sandra Brennan
Photo by Rebecca Meeks
Charted Hit Singles
Year Song Title Producer
1990 Number One (On The Good Look Chart) -
1992 Armshouse Phillip 'Fatis' Burrell
1994 Tour -
1995 How Long -
1996 Bad Mind -
1997 Put Down Your Weapon (with Yami Bolo) -
1997 Raggy Road -
1997 Stand Tall -
1998 Jah Caught Them -
1998 Mount Zion Medley (with Morgan Heritage,
Bushman, Jah Cure, LMS & Ras Shiloh) -
1998 Pure Sodom -
1998 See No Evil -
1999 Big Animosity -
1999 Can't Cool -
1999 Critics -
1999 Final Assassin -
1999 Good In A Clothes -
1999 In or Out -
1999 The More Them Try -
Popular Albums
http://www.reggaefusion.com/Performers/C/Capleton.html |
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