"The Prophet" - King Shango
Capleton
A wise man once said that a prophet is never honored in his own country. And so it has been with Capleton. While the veteran DJ‚s words and works long ago earned him the title of “The Prophet”, the respect and honor that should rightfully be his have been a long time coming. Anytime you try to uplift righteousness and upliftment of the people them, then you ah go get a fight, says the hottest entertainer in the worldwide reggae fraternity. “Bob Marley come do it and them fight him. And when Bob Marley dead, that’s when they start to endorse him. I already aware of this, I am not unaware. So I know the more them fight I is the more I get stronger” In the fast-moving world of dancehall reggae, fame and success are hard to obtain and easy to lose. Fans can be fickle, and trends change in the blink of an eye, leaving most entertainers with painfully short career spans. Only a rare few can remain relevant from year to year, holding their audience’s attention and leaving them crying for more. His lyrics are deep, precise, and thoughtful. His stage shows are nothing less than dynamic, explosive performances. But his remarkable staying power and longevity may be Capleton’s greatest gift.
Born Clifton George Bailey III on April 13, 1967, in the rural parish of St. Mary, Capleton earned his future stage name from friends who were so impressed with his sharp reasoning skills that they named him after the most famous lawyer in town. From a tender young age, he was a lover of the traveling sound systems, sneaking out at night to catch the vibes until dawn. But it wasn’t until he turned 18 and moved to Kingston that he was able to realize his destiny.
It was Stewart Brown, owner of a Toronto-based sound called African Star, who gave the untested artist his first break, flying him to Canada for a stage show alongside giants like Ninjaman and Flourgon. The audience poured out their appreciation, and he never looked back. When Capleton first burst on the scene in the late 1980s, the dancehall was a very different place than it is today. Slackness and gun talk were the order of the day. This bright promising newcomer announced his arrival with a string of hit songs from “Bumbo Red” to “Number One on the Look Good Chart” and “Lotion Man.” Everything he touched hit the sound-good charts, and the youthful artist with the nimble vocabulary and hardcore voice quickly established himself as one of dancehall‚s most reliable hitmakers. But even he could not have predicted that eleven years later, at the start of the new millennium, he would be dancehall’s ruling voice.
