Earl 16

Born in Kingston, Jamaica as Earl John Daley, Earl 16—also credited as Earl Sixteen—belongs to the generation of reggae singers that emerged in the mid-1970s. After beginnings in local singing contests, Earl 16 passed through the Flaming Phonics and the Boris Gardiner Happening before recording the solo track “Malcolm X” for Joe Gibbs in 1975. His supple voice, rooted in roots reggae, then moved through several Jamaican and British production contexts: in the late 1970s Lee “Scratch” Perry invited him to the Black Ark, where Earl 16 recorded, among other things, the original version of “White Belly Rat.” In the 1980s he multiplied session work and released Reggae Sounds (1981), Julie (1982, with Roy Cousins), Shining Star (1983) and Showcase (1985). Settling in England from the mid-1980s, Earl 16 worked with Mad Professor and framed his singing within a dub aesthetic with more contemporary contours. In the 1990s he appeared on tracks by Leftfield and then joined Dreadzone in 1995, a British group where reggae, dub and electronica intersect. His solo discography continued with Steppin’ Out (1997), Wake Up (2006), The Fittest (2011) and Walls of the City (2014, with Manasseh).