PNP pays tribute to Daddy U-Roy
Published:Thursday | February 18, 2021 | 2:20 PM
The Opposition People’s National Party is today paying tribute to late Jamaican entertainer Ewart Beckford, better known to the world as Daddy U-Roy.
U-Roy passed away last night at the University Hospital of the West Indies after undergoing surgery there.
Opposition Leader, Mark Golding,lauded U-Roy as a "pioneering dancehall vocalist and a master toaster, whose craft contributed to the development of the Hip Hop genre."
"Beckford contributed greatly to a very creative period in the development of Jamaican music, and we pay tribute to him for his courage and innovation," Golding said.
An original toaster from the 60s, often hailed as the Godfather of Dancehall, Daddy U-Roy was also known as The Originator and Hugh Roy.
His melodic style of toasting, applied with a highly developed sense of timing, set him in a class by himself.
U-Roy's first two singles released on Duke Reid's Treasure Isle label, Wake the Town (1970) and Wear You to the Ball (1970), were Jamaican hits and established his reputation as one of Jamaica's most popular toasters.
He was 79.
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