Beenie Man performing at Curefest. - file

When the tiny baby boy echoed his first cry on August 22 in Waterhouse, Kingston, Jamaica, it was no ordinary sound but a symbol of great things to come.

A revolution was on the verge for the dancehall industry on that day when Moses Davis a.k.a. Beenie Man was born. He is the youngest artiste to have ever entered the thriving dancehall business in the early '80s at the age of 10 and rocked the microphone like any veteran.

While ordinary children would be busy playing football, marbles and other childhood indulgencies, Beenie Man was having studio sessions and writing songs. This was a clear indication that Beenie Man would eventually become a fixture in the entertainment industry.

Business meetings

Beenie Man was soon attending business meetings with record producer Junjo Lawes, who later recorded his first big single Too Fancy. Following the debut single, this young star was in the inner circle and by 1983 he was deejaying on various sound systems and appearing on some of the biggest shows, working with the stalwarts in the business.

He recorded a few songs with Barrington Levy, among them, Under Mi Sensi and Two Sounds. These songs later become popular ghetto anthems, especially on a sound system that Beenie Man was a part of.

In the early 90s the indomitable Beenie Man hooked up with Patrick Roberts and formed Shocking Vibes Production, along with ex-stable mate Little Lenny and Kirk Davis.

Roberts then became the driving force behind Beenie Man's career and he launched him into a greater spotlight. Beenie Man was now doing a lot of recordings and appearing on several big shows, such as Reggae Sunsplash, Ghetto Splash, Sting, Teen Splash among many others.

He linked with top producers Sly & Robbie who helped him produce a remake of Bob Marley's song No Woman No Cry.

Beenie Man recorded a slew of hit songs throughout the '90s that captured the dancehall arena. Dancehall fans were busy learning and practising the new dance move World Dance, which was followed by more hit songs such as Defend It and Dis Unu Fi Hear, Damsel Ship, Suzuki, Ole Dawg, Slam, Ketteh Drum and many more. His performance in the music industry landed him the title of DJ of the year in 1994, the same year these singles were released. This was a significant year for Beenie Man. He also released his debut album which was titled Blessed which included several hit songs.

Read Part 2 of Beenie's Bio in The STAR tomorrow.

The Doctor, Beenie Man is December's Artiste of the Month.

The STAR has many exciting features lined up with the irrepressible DJ.

Read the Star for:

❒The many Moods of Moses

❒ Win a Date with 'The Doctor'

❒ Go behind the scenes to take a look at his legendary wardrobe

❒ Get one of his 1000 CDs

❒ And get passes to the charity event that will feature The Doctor and a few of his musician friends who will raise funds for a good cause.

It's all in December, and it's all Beenie Man.