The Best Names In Reggae

So, what's in a name? Of course, a great name can make one stand out amongst the pack on paper and, even before anyone has heard your music, create a nice buzz for you but too many times in Reggae music the names follow a pretty formulaic and generic pattern. How many____ Mans do you know? How about Jah ____ (even though one makes the list), or a Ras ____ or ____ King or Prince ____? Even the ladies get into it: Does Sista ____, Queen ____ or Lady____ sound familiar? But sometime you get something which looks like someone took their time and really thought about their style of music and how it related to what type of music they wanted to make and you get a real gem of a name. Thus, I submit for your approval, the best NAMES in Reggae music today.

{note 1: I specifically tried to keep names which usually appear on my lists off of this one}

{note 2: No Soca}

{Honourable Mentions: I-Octane, Sizzla Kalonji, Lutan Fyah, Fantan Mojah, Bounty Killer & Teflon}

#10. Jah Cure

Why? Taken in pretty much almost any context and Jah Cure is the aforementioned stereotypical Jah ______ name as I mention which dominate Roots Reggae music but his is and has always been the exception for me. The reason being that it manages to stick itself out amongst the Jah pack and do so for the better. Its interesting if you were to look at some of the others which may not IMMEDIATELY grasp you as being kind of at all succinct with itself (like JAHRANIMO) or one which may require quite a bit of explanation (like JAH MASON) but Jah Cure requires none of that, you can fill in the assumed blanks yourself, just as his very first album did. Jah’S Cure, meaning this man has the cure, whatever it may be.

How does the name fit the style? Very well actually. In any type of real world situation you wouldn’t expect to go to a Jah Cure show and, dying of some disease, just miraculously be cured. HOWEVER, his is a style which, like his name sticks very far out of the pack of literally everyone else and when at his best, when he registers one of the most DEVASTATING voices The Almighty ever created in its finest tones, you cannot help but be effected by of it, if sound means anything to you, anything at all. A cure indeed.

#9. Mad Cobra

Why? Ninja Man likes it. On the surface, Ewart Everton Brown’s choice of stage name is not quite stereotypical but something which almost seems kind of cliché, given the competitive nature of the music he makes and I may damn well be swayed in putting him on this list but for me the name rings so strongly in several ways. The main one being the utter simplicity of it: what in the hell is a Mad Cobra? Aren’t all cobras kind of mad to some degree or don’t they at least seem like it if they aren’t dead or sleeping? Why is this one in particular so damn mad? What kind of man would call himself a mad cobra, is that not redundant as hell? Apparently the Cobra’s greatest sparring partner, the legendary Ninja Man was vexed by it too, as he said in his infamous hit Excuse Me, “EXUSE ME! Bwoy you outta ordah, telling people you name Mad Cobra!”.

How does the name fit the style? As one of the ‘decorated’ (as if they give awards for such a thing) bad man/gun man deejays in Dancehall history, Brown more than earned the moniker on that front, however, I don’t see the correlation between ‘Mad Cobra’ and songs like Flex, Legacy and most recently, Gangsta Flex (although I’m sure there’s some kind of lame ass bite/venomous/strike sexual reference in there somewhere).

#8. Cocoa Tea

Why? Because it works in every possible way, shape and form. Coming from a class of AMAZING singers which included both Beres Hammond and Dennis Emmanuel Brown, which were, essentially both singers who used their given names as their stage name (Beres’ actual name is Hugh Beresford Hammond), you would definitely need something which would IMMEDIATELY catch the attentions in that group and Cocoa Tea was damn perfect and, much like the previous entrant on this list, his name comes with a very simple familiar tone and is one which very easily rolls off the tongue. Doesn’t it?

How does the name fit the style? PERFECT! Calvin Scott (bka Cocoa Tea) makes some of the SWEETEST music and he is officially the coolest man on the planet for several years running now. In this category, he would be #1 on the list.

#7. Turbulence

Why? I once read an interview/press release/whatever the hell it was supposed to be concerning Turbulence (and you can probably find it stirring around somewhere online still) and how he got his name. After getting in the business, under the name ‘Double Trouble’ (which is atrocious), Sheldon Campbell (the artist), after being seen in live performance was advised by an elder to change his name to ‘Turbulence’ due to his ability to shake up Babylon and that (besides being told to go work with Xterminator by whoever did that) was probably the best career advice he’s ever gotten. TURBULENCE is such an easy, yet catchy thing to remember and for a fiery Roots Reggae artist, which he can be at times (when he’s not trying to be strange Mr. Loverman, which is rare these days) and it sounds so good that you’re almost surprised that no one either thought of it before or stuck with it before.

How does the name fit the style? Again, it does at certain times. Go an listen to the Join Us, Rising and The Future and albums like such and that guy singing those pieces was Turbulence. As of late, however, it seems as if Double Trouble has made his way back to prominence.

#6. Erup

Why? Cool as the breeze! Much like in the case of the next name on this list, Erup and whoever gave him the name don’t too much seem concerned with grammar or things like such but that’s fine in this case (as it is, after deliberation, in the next). In the case of Erup, unlike the next person, his name works for one reason: IT’S COOL AS HELL and you know it. He almost sounds like he has a superpower. Somewhere, you know that the Lava King, I-Wayne, when he first heard the name Erup was jealous that he didn’t think of that on his own. You know he was!

How does the name fit the style? Not too well. Just thinking of ‘Erup’ as a name and you would probably think of an artist who sounds something like Aidonia or Einstein or Flexx and not like Kevin Saunders. He isn’t this tumultuous flow of scalding hot lyrics; he’s smoother, more melodically gifted and probably has some of the greatest potential in the Dancehall right now.

#5. Revalation

Why? Because its growing on me. Two things here: First, of course, you’ll notice the different kind of spelling in the word and that was corny as hell to me for quite awhile but its not something unlike you would find in other genres of music, particularly Reggae’s not too distant cousin, Hip-Hop. Also, on that same note it’s a very modern type of twist to it, which his great. The other point being that a name like Revalation denotes some type of change at work and kind of, in the tangible sense, would register in someway like Jah Cure might in the sense that - you’ve now heard all the other artists, some different, some similar and the same but this one man is THE revelation.

How does the name fit the style? Okay but it’ll probably get even better. Revalation’s style isn’t one which is exactly revolutionary by any means and me and quite a few listeners tend to compare the St. Thomas born artist to his good friend Pressure Busspipe although there’s a catch. That “catch” being an underused but STRONG singing voice. Should Jason Williams ever develop that bit of his game to the highest degree, then maybe he’ll definitely be that revalation.

#4. Malika Madremana

Why? Because its beautiful. I don’t know about you but I get one of two images in my head when I think of ‘Malika Madreamana’ as a woman’s name: The first being the oldest and nicest Spanish woman in your neighbourhood and the other is a Reggaeton singer but if you break it down its quite nice (not that old Spanish women and Reggaeton aren’t nice). Madremana translates from Spanish to English as Mother sister (“mana” being short for ‘hermana’). Now, taking that, Malika Mothersister does sound quite appropriate for a Roots Reggae artist (especially one of Puerto Rican heritage) doesn’t it?

How does the name fit the style? Excellently! Listen to Malika Madremana’s music. Not only is it VERY straightforward Roots Reggae but it has a VERY comfortable and comfortable edge to it to the point where you almost feel like she either has it down PERFECTLY or she goes out of her way to make it like that (either case is fine actually)! Either way, its perfect for the artist and very fitting for someone who has albums named Elixir and Healing to her credit.

#3. Lyricson

Why? Because someone has to be named Lyricson. As you keep focusing on the image that old Spanish woman or Reggaeton singer named ‘Malika Madremana’ take this one for a ride: Does not Lyricson sound like a spoken word artist? Are you not ABSOLUTELY SHOCKED that no one else named Lyricson has done anything else remotely substantial in the music industry to this point and its WONDERFULLY left to the Guinea native who is, in my opinion, one of the most talented Reggae artists in the entire world right now, period. You just sound cool if your name is Lyricson!

How does the name fit the style? Pretty good actually. At first I was thinking it would be kind of a boastful but fitting name for someone like the next two artists on this list but ‘Lyricson’ definitely has some type of ‘artsy’ type of connotation and you wouldn’t want someone who carries the name to be bragging about how his is the biggest gun in Jamaica. But in the case of Soulemane Boukara, a tremendously gifted singer/chanter, it works nearly exceedingly well.

#2. Vybz Kartel

Why? You know why dammit! “Coming to the stage ladies and gentleman! Make some noise for Vybz Kartelllllllll!” If you were at a show and some lame ass MC came up and said such a thing and you had NO idea who this ‘Vybz Kartel’ was, how many people might you expect? Two, three or maybe even ten or some ridiculous number like such. You certainly wouldn’t expect ONE strange looking and demonically talented deejay. Adidja Palmer was once part of a group (as ‘Adi Banton’) named Vibes Cartel alongside friends Mr. Lee and Escobar (Lee, I think, was the singer). When the members went their own way, Palmer kept the name, changed the spelling and proclaimed himself to “have enough vibes for an entire cartel".

How does the name fit the style? PERFECTLY. Despite what I might have to say about him at the current moment, the man definitely has fulfilled on the lofty status which his stage name gives him as he has captured enough hits for several artists and remains unarguably one of the most gifted Dancehall artists EVER (when he chooses to use his talents).

#1. Busy Signal

Why? Because I’m jealous as hell. I often get asked if I am, personally, a Reggae artist and while I certainly am not that doesn’t mean that I never wanted to be. No. I, like pretty much everyone who has grown in Jamaica over the last half century or so, definitely entertained the idea and did so to a great degree. But I needed a name. Of my own nickname(s) at the time, the best, Achis, was the leading candidate but BUSY SIGNAL sounds like something I would have thought of and RAN WITH. Unfortunately for me another youth (of a similar age who was also probably in St. Ann at the time), Reanno Gordon, thought of it and did it justice. ‘Busy Signal’ is like Mad Cobra or Cocoa Tea with its very simple overtones but, in this case, of a very modern age (it also would have hurt me that I was HORRIBLE).

How does the name fit the style? Very well. You think a Busy Signal, of course you think telephones and, by extension, the entire high-tech and modern world which is exactly what Reanno Gordon was when he bust on the scene. People were listening to the artist with earlier hits like Step Out, Badman Place and Think Dem Bad and hailing the youth as one to watch and after a dry spot in their for awhile, he has assumed his spot as one of the strongest and most consistent faces in the Dancehall right now.