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| Wayne Marshall |
Wayne Marshall’s story is one of rites of passage.
Born Wayne Mitchell, one of Dancehall’s ‘young giants’
recently celebrated his 21st birthday; the roller coaster ride that
has made up his young life is what drives Wayne Marshall the artiste.
Early years were spent in the Barbican area of Kingston, until his Father
- a self-made successful businessman – relocated the family uptown.
Destiny moved the Mitchell family 3 doors away from the front gate
of the Father of digital Dancehall, Lloyd “King Jammy” James.
The King had sons of young Wayne’s age group, so the Waterhouse
studio soon became a pre-ordained second home for the music-loving teenager.
“Automatically we get a piece of the ghetto inna we too,”
he tells me from my passenger seat, trying to absorb the fast-fading
cool of the A/C in my whip. “We deh deep inna di ghetto a day
time at the studio, so we get to realize the livety and we get fi soak
in wid the ghetto people and ketch dem mentality to a level,”
he adds, acknowledging the importance of the ghetto education he received
at ‘Jammin’s’ studio. Sparring with the big man’s
offspring meant that the studio was at their disposal, causing Wayne
to “start checking music on a serious level” from an early
age. It was early ‘94 and Bounty Killer was as hot as Hell. Marshall
recalls Elephant Man in tear-up clothes, Determine begging. Big artists
came and went all day long. “At King Jammy’s I got to know
the ropes in the deep heart of Dancehall - dub plate style!”
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