Lady Saw

BLVR: Do you separate from the Lady Saw people see in the dancehall when you’re not onstage?

LS: You know, a friend of mine recently told me how she saw me onstage one night, and I came down off the stage, and a man said something to me. And I told him: “Lady Saw — she’s done right now. That was Lady Saw there, she’s done now. I’m Marion Hall, talk to me.” Marion Hall is a homegirl. You see how hard it was to get me out? [Laughs] I stay home, you know? I don’t have a lot of friends. I have a lot of fans, not so many friends. I stay home, I feed the dogs, I bathe the dogs. I have a farm up in Ocho Rios, I’m there. But I’m boring, you know — until it’s time to touch the stage.

— Jamaican dancehall performer Lady Saw, interviewed by Joshua Jelly-Schapiro in the July/August 2010 issue of The Believer.

Lincoln Barrington “Sugar” Minott, Jamaican reggae and dancehall musician, died on Saturday 10 July in Kingston.

The Jamaica Observer reports:

Minott . . . earned for himself the moniker Godfather of Dancehall. He is credited with being the pioneer, who, by laying vocal tracks over the original tapes from the 60’s, rather than using a live band — as was the norm in those days — caused a revolution in the sound that brought a new style to reggae music known as dancehall.

Adam Sweeting’s obituary in the UK Guardian adds:

Other artists had done this in live performance, but Minott brought the technique into the recording studio, triggering a revolution in Jamaican music.

According to Minott’s official website, his latest album, New Day, is scheduled to be released later this month.