Carlton Livingston

Do you know this about the Dancehall artist Carlton Livingston?

Carlton Livingston is a Jamaican-born reggae vocalist and songwriter who was born in 1962 in St Mary. His mom was active in the local church choir, and it wasn't long before Livingston followed in her footsteps.

He heard Bob Marley and the Wailers perform for the first time in high school at Trenchtown Comprehensive.

Greatly inspired by the likes of the legendary Bob Marley, he started a harmonious sound system called "Fantastic Three" with Anthony Alphonso, AKA Lone Ranger, which eventually became known as Knowledge. They were discovered and invited by Tony Walcott to record with him.

Tony Walcott was Livingston's break into the music industry that ultimately led to his first recording.

Livingstons first recording was the Album "the Tale of Two Cities" in 1978 on Channel One.

After his time at Channel One, he moved on to Studio one and waxed lyrical with tunes such as "Why" and "Here I Stand."

Fun fact: Livingston has an LP produced by Thrillseekers titles Soweto - a name synonymous with a well-known underdeveloped town in South Africa.

With no shortage of big names in the Jamaican music industry, he went on to work with the likes of Winston Riley, Clive Jarret, sly & Robbie Coxsone Dodd, and King Jammy.

In 1982 he went on tour, covering the United States and Canada, with artists like Lone Ranger, Tristan Palmer, and Sammy Dread.

Livingston rose to fame in the island music world with his 1984 hit, "100 Weight of Collie Weed", through which he clearly stamped his mark on the music industry. This was produced by Hyman Wright and Percy Chin on the Jah Life label.

"100 Weight of Collie Weed" was featured on Livingston's next album, Fret Dem a Fret.

He is renowned worldwide for his excellent vocals, as well as his extraordinary songwriting abilities.

Legend has it that Livingston woke up one morning in a bad mood, and this lousy mood led to him writing the dancehall beat "Too Rude."

Clearly, not all bad moods are bad news.

He recorded his self-produced album titled Emotions in 1994 under the Grapevines label. He struck gold in the international industry when he subsequently recorded "Rumors" with Shabba Ranks in the late 1990s, which Bobby Digital produced.

Livingston released six albums and ten singles, with a bunch of compilations under his belt.

Acclaimed artists have since covered his music like Gregory Isaac, Dennis Brown, and Shinehead.

Livingston appeared at the Reggae Geel Festival in August 2012.

He relocated to the United States of America in the 1980s and continues to record and tour with backing bands.

His songs have been used by the likes of Ja Rule and KRS One, and his killer dubplates are still highly in demand. He is rightfully acclaimed as another pioneer in the dancehall scene, having been amongst the first to bring this genre to life.