Buffalo Bill

A new voice has sprung out of the celebrated Reggae hotbed of Trench Town, in Kingston, Jamaica. 
Buffalo Bill comes from this rough ghetto, a neighbourhood where the message spread by the songs created there often serves to convey the youths' basic culture. In an era when dancehall sounds are often cynical and stupid, against all odds Buffalo sings of the frustrations of the people and human conscience. He sings about injustice and hope, peace and liberation through Rastafari. 
Born on August 2, 1964 in Kingston, Rupert Reeves was a gospel singer during his entire childhood. It was at the Children's Bible Club-sponsored concerts in Trench Town that Buffalo Bill made his name as a dancer and singer. In 1986 he won the popular Bohemia Club talent show grand finals with an original song, Help The Weak . 
Bill was raised on the same block as the Marley family and has remained close to them ever since. Unlike many dancehall-oriented Jamaicans, he is in fact very much influenced by Bob Marley. His roots reggae comes from the depths of the Jamaican soul. Ziggy Marley produced his first two singles, Help The Weak (Buffalo Bill & the Reggae Revolution, 1989, reissued in 1992) followed by Curfew and the self-produced Fed Up (1994), all released on Ziggy's Ghetto Youths United label.
With his Bob Marley & the Wailers influences, Buffalo Bill therefore naturally adresses the world-wide general public. The songs crafted for his Ghetto Youth Unite album were carefully and slowly worked out. Legendary reggae giants such as Earl "Chinna" Smith, Robbie Lynn, Dalton Brownie, "Santa" Davis, Cleveland "Cleevie" Browne and Chris Meredith contributed to the recordings. Buffalo Bill financed the recordings himself, also with his Jamaican friends and Ziggy Marley and his brothers' help. Buffalo also earns a living by singing reggae music in hotels, which to this day remain the only places employing live musicians regularly in Jamaica. He nevertheless managed to set up German/Swiss tours in 1991, 92 and 93, backed by Hamburg-based Jamaican roots reggae band Bass Culture. 
Determined to break on through, Buffalo Bill moved to Hamburg, Germany, in 1997. He toured again in Germany and Switzerland that year, supporting Papa Curvin. In Berlin Buffalo Bill recorded several songs with Frank Langer, including Max Romeo's Wet Dream released on the fine Dancehall Beach Party compilation (Pense à Moi/EMI 1998) put together by his old friend Bruno Blum, a French reggae musician and writer. Buffalo Bill temporarily joined various German groups such as Vitamin X and Bass Culture, and toured Great Britain with U.K. pop group Heath Hunter & the Pleasure Company, Captain Jack and Lou Baga in 1999. He then landed in Paris where in April and November '99 he contributed to two of Awal's 'Mix Mondial' dancehall shows as a DJ on the mike, with Bruno Blum & Blunty selecting the tunes. At this occasion Blum produced two recordings, Bob Marley's War and Bill's Warmongers (Rastafari single, 1999) on which a rhythm track recorded in Kingston features Marley's Wailers band and Blum on twang guitar.
With these recordings, the precious Ghetto Youth Unite album is completed at last and released in France on the Culture Press label in 2001. Tracks such as Perfect Woman , Warmongers and Don't Give Up are all sung with a strength that carries the urgency of the humanist message often best transmitted by Jamaican artists. Gifted with a unique and peculiar voice, Buffalo Bill's work has an instantly recognizable sound that truly makes him one of today's reggae great hopes. 
Bruno Blum also produced Buffalo's fine Marilou A Dance Reggae on Serge Gainsbourg's classic 1979 original Marilou Reggae Dub rhythm by Sly & Robbie (and included on Gainsbourg's double Mercury-Universal hit remixes CD Aux Armes Et Cætera 2003). This was followed by Strike , also recorded over a Sly & Robbie/Gainsbourg rhythm of the same name and included on Gainsbourg's double Mercury-Universal hit remixes CD Mauvaise nouvelles des étoiles 2003. 
Following the reissue of the Ghetto Youh Unite album by Fifty Five/BMG France in 2003, Blum also directed Buffalo's Perfect Woman video.

Official Site →

Buffalo Bill on BigUp Radio ● Listen Live

← Browse All Artists