Lone Ranger: M-16 - 1982


Before Yellowman dominated the mid-eighties, Lone Ranger proved to be a bridging artist between the righteous chanting  of Prince Far I, Big Youth, Dennis Alcapone I-Roy and U-Roy et al and the dancehall/ragga chat of the eighties. 

This was his most famous album, its title track , M-16, being bassy, dubby Niney-produced Studio One rap. 

Other highlights are Uptown Style and the bassy Skank Steady. While there are lots of hints of dancehall in the vocal delivery, the backing still carries an innate rootsiness about it. A track like Rise And Meet Jah shows he still had a God-fearing fervour in there, despite the dancehall vocal style. Ranger's vocal style also uses the "bong-biddly-bong" thing that Musical Youth and many chart acts would approximate a few years later, no doubt highly influenced by this.


★ I could have chosen Dee Jay Daddy from 1984.


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