From local toasting to international success: The Ranking Joe story

Ranking Joe a.k.a. Little Joe (born Joseph Jackson in Kingston, Jamaica) is a reggae deejay who rose to prominence in the 1970s with continued success in the 1980s. He was initially inspired towards a musical career by his father who operated a sound system.

After starting out by toasting on the Smith The Weapon sound system, Jackson progressed to the El Paso sound system, where he performed under the name Little Joe inspired by the character from Bonanza. (In Jamaican music, a deejay is a musician who sings and "toasts" to an instrumental riddim.)

He first recorded for Coxsone Dodd's Studio One in 1974, releasing "Gun Court." Initially unsuccessful as a recording artist, he studied electronics before returning to recording in the mid-1970s with greater success. His first hit was "Honda 750," followed by singles such as "Psalm 54", "Natty Don't Make War," and the Bionic Man-tribute "Steve Austin". "Stop Your Coming and Come" provided the first deejay hit for Sly & Robbie's Taxi label.

In the latter half of the 1970s, he released three albums and also returned to sound system work with U-Roy's King Sturgav setup. His big international break came in 1980 when the Ray Symbolic Hi-Fi sound system, with which he was then the resident deejay, toured the United Kingdom, raising his profile and helping his Weakheart Fadeaway become a major seller for Greensleeves Records.

A string of further albums followed in the early 1980s, which saw Joe move away from the "cultural" chants of his early work towards the "slackness" that had become popular. Slackness is a subgenre of dancehall music with straightforward sexual lyrics performed live or recorded. Its form and pronunciation vary throughout the Caribbean.

Ray Symbolic's death interrupted Joe's career, but he returned as a producer with dubs of his productions released on the King Tubby albums Original King Key Dub and Dangerous Dub. He later moved to New York City, setting up a record label also named Ranking Joe, which provided an outlet for his productions. He proved to be a major influence on one of the most successful deejays of the early 1980s, Eek-A-Mouse.

Founded by Clement "Coxsone" Dodd in 1954, Studio One is one of Jamaica's most renowned record labels and recording studios, often described as the Motown of Jamaica. The record label was involved with most of the major music movements in Jamaica during the 1960s and 1970s, including ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, and dancehall.