Featured In
ALBUMAsk Jah - SingleWayne Smith
Albums by Wayne Smith
ALBUMMr. BossmanWayne Smith
ALBUMLoving Mi Want - EPWayne Smith
ALBUMLifeWayne Smith
ALBUMComputerised DubWayne Smith
ALBUMWicked Inna Dance HallWayne Smith
ALBUMUnder Me Sleng TengWayne Smith
Artist Playlists
Wayne Smith Essentials
The king of sleng teng.
Artist Biography
Widely considered the creator of ragga, the industry-shifting digital beat that altered the face of Jamaican music, Wayne Smith was initially indistinguishable from the bevy of upstart singers voicing riddims for the island’s dominant producer of the ‘80s, Prince Jammy. But the all-conquering “Under Me Sleng Teng,” based on a bouncy Casiotone preset discovered by Smith, turned the Jamaican music industry on its head overnight. Quickly spawning a wave of copycats, variations, and remakes from a slew of rival producers, the song brought about a nearly complete shift to computerized beats in dancehall reggae in the late ‘80s. While producers like Jammy and others greatly benefited from this more cost-effective arrangement, one-hit wonders such as Wayne fared worse as the rougher, rawer wave of ragga toasters began their dominance in the early ‘90s.
Hometown
Kingston, Jamaica
Genre
Reggae