By Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

Ninja Man - Andrew Smith

We stopped in the tale of Ninja Man's career at his first, large stage show, 'DJ Roll Call', where he was called up by Early B. The organisers turned off the microphone on them and the first time Ninja Man's name came in the newspapers it read 'Early B and his sidekick, Ninja Man, were kicked off stage.' The Gorgon was, however, not to be denied.

"Nex' week, llandilo with Courtney Melody an' me no back. Every tune me draw, 19 tune, a pure forward. Long Fe Release, Pedal an Wheel a de fus' me bus' so much tune. Me buck a crowd, a jus' me dem waan hear," he said. "Jamaica get interested. Dem waan hear wha Early B prentice dem a do."

This time the write-up was different. "Mr. McGowan (former Gleaner entertainment editor Howard McGowan) sey come," he said. And the newspaper read "Ninja Man, a young deejay, the man of the moment."

The momentum kept going as the following week it was off to Fort Clarence, with Josey Wales and Charlie Chaplin, and, 20 years later, the shows and the media coverage have not stopped.

And neither have the clashes, Ninja Man being involved in many of the legendary 'Sting' clashes, as well as sound system battles on Kilamanjaro. But the lyrical killing started from early on the second sound system he deejayed on, Soul Imperial.

De baddes'

"Soul Imperial was de baddes' likkle soun' inna Kingston. Every likkle soun inna Kingston 11, we go roun' an kill dem," he said.

Then Soul Imperial played against Silverhawk in Standpipe. Lead deejays Supercat and Early B were not there and Ninja Man, Junior Cat, Clivie C, Marlon Brando and Iron Man were the deejays and Dalton Screechie and Richie Coolbreeze the singers. "Some dead, some gone a foreign," Ninja Man said of those entertainers. Silverhawk had Admiral Bailey and Shabba Ranks, along with many other top entertainers. "Me an' dem inna de dance. Silverhawk win, because him more dan we. If a two or tree artiste, everyting dead," Ninja Man said.

Still, when Ninja Man was leaving the dance, Silverhawk's owner 'Steelie' Johnson asked where he was from. Ninja Man told him, but when Steelie came looking, Ninja Man had gone on an unscheduled trip. "When him come me deh a jail fi six mont'," Ninja Man said.

Wanted man

That was a stint behind bars that had been pending, as "after Protection me did still wanted by de law." This led directly to the original tape with the rhythm of Protection being lost, as "dem buck me inna one cyar an' me haffi lef' all de tape."

"Is a BMC," Ninja Man said, laughing merrily. "Dem hol' me a nex' time."

But his impact was so strong that when he came out of jail, Steelie was still interested and carried him around to King Jammys studio, in Waterhouse, where he was part of the production team. Ninja Man hooked up with Tatta, who "hol' de door to de dub studio." He recommended Ninja Man to the sound system owners who came for dub plates. There was another recommendation as well, as Lloyd 'King Jammys' James said "Steelie sey yu bad."

"Jammys sey a no dub mek yu mek money, a tune," Ninja Man said. And so he started doing records, More Reality, Artical Don and the pair of Percy Sledge covers with Tinga Stewart.

Next: The clashes.

Challenge the Ninja

Ninja is challenging any deejay, upcoming or otherwise, to a verbal duel in the 'Challenge the Ninja' competition.

To register for the eliminations, call The Star today on 1-888-843-7827 between 4 and 5 p.m. Give your name and contact number.

Rules for the duel

You must be 18 years and over to enter.

Lyrics must be clean. No profanity.

Lyrics must be original and made up on the spot.

You must be willing to attend an elimination bout in Kingston on December 15.

Contestants will challenge each other and the best lyricists go on to the finals where they take on the Ninja Man.