Record of 2001
WARRIOR KING
VIRTUOUS WOMAN
(LION PAW PRODUCTION)
Every now and again a record seems to come from nowhere, and bucking
all the trends of the day takes the reggae world by storm. A case
in point is this unassuming offering from a bobo-dread singer known as
Warrior King. Born Mark Dyer, in 1979, Kingston, his initial
forays into the world of school concerts and talent shows had been as a
deejay in the no-nonsense dancehall manner of Bounty Killer.
Teaming up with another youth, Malcolm Stewart, it was as Junior King
and Likkle Blacks that they eventually recorded “Nuff A Dem A Evil” for
Coca Tea, though it was a couple of years after its release that he
realised his true forte lay as a singer, and one with an all-together
more low-key approach.
Changing his moniker to Warrior King, with all the cultural
associations this carried, he then cut “Virtuous Woman” for the Lion
Paw imprint, utilising a revitalised version of the Paragons’ “My
Satisfaction”/Culture’s “Zion Gate” rhythm. A paean to the sort
of righteous princess every bobo-dread prince feels he needs, this
possessed a refreshing tenderness heard alongside the aggressive
bluster being offered by many of his turban and robe-clad brethren then
spitting out promises of fire upon Babylon and all forms of
iniquity.
As one of the best-selling reggae singles of the year, it naturally
didn’t have to wait long for the rhythm-album treatment, with the likes
of Luciano, Junior Kelly and Glen Washington having their say over the
instrumental track – along with a strong George Nooks reading of the
Joseph Hill lyric (and Prince Mohammed revisiting his “40 Leg Dread,”
originally the deejay part of the 1977 Errol T 12”). Several of
at least forty subsequent singles from Warrior King, including “My
Life” (Lion Paw), “Never Go Where The Pagans Go” (Cali Bud) and
“Education Is Key” (Penthouse), have come close to matching “Virtuous
Woman”, without quite capturing its beguiling and seemingly artless
flavour.
Peter Dalton
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