The Original Lighter

A zine dedicated to dancehall and 90s.

What a great era for Reggae when one of it’s top ranking generals in the Deejay business manifested into a worldwide phenom. Known to the government as Cecil Wellington but better known to the world using a biblical moniker “Nicodemus”. Not much has been publicized about the deejay himself. After years of searching I have yet to come across any written Q&A interviews with the deejay. I’ve found one recorded live interview from the 1980’s live on BBC radio during his mini tour in the UK with fellow deejay and best friend Super Cat. Nicodemus passed away in 1996 at the young age of 39. As a big fan of the deejay I am hopeful one day the world will get a chance to hear more of his background but in the present day his music is seeing a newfound interest amongst a younger generation over the past 5-7 years. We can see “Demus” live in action on various heavyweight sound systems where he was mostly the resident featured deejay. Multiple live sound system audio sessions that have made there way onto the internet over the years which have made collectors hungry for more.

Nicodemus hails from a musical family, his brother Blacka Morwell a member of the roots band “The Morwells”. As one of Jamaica’s pioneering sound system deejays getting his start in the mid 1970’s, there were not many influential reggae sound systems that Demus did not guest multiple times on. Some of his most notable features early in his career in the mid 70’s to early 80’s were on the great sounds like Virgo Int’l, Jack Ruby, Socialist Roots, Prince Jammy’s, Emperor Faith etc. Later on he was given a sound system by Jamaican business man Skengdon called Stereo Mars, a formidable sound of the digital era in 1980’s Jamaican dancehall where he recruited veteran Burro Banton, Super Cat who was running JA red at the time and highly regarded selectors Danny Dread and Ainsley. Demus has made a bundle of recorded sessions for various record labels and which are now available and easy to collect thanks to re-issues.

I personally have been so influenced by this deejay and his style over the years. Demus’s style and fashion was definitively his, unmistaken for no one else but the deejay known as “Mr. Fabulous” Nicodemus.

It is with great pleasure and a complicated edit that we bring to you these highlights of 3 Nicodemus sessions we selected. Please enjoy.

Sessions.

In the era of 1980’s dancehall there were many rising stars coming out of the different parishes in Jamaica but artists needed to develop a unique style and persona in order to stand out especially when the dance “cork”. It wasn’t uncommon for an artist to desire the merits in which he could adopt the title of “General” into his stage/dancehall name(s) and personas. The “General” in dancehall is considered a very high ranking status. If you are a follower of Reggae culture then it’s likely you know this distinct honor belongs to two very important figures in Reggae, Brigadier Jerry otherwise known as “The General” and our featured deejay who adopted the title into his deejay name, General Trees.

Trees (as he is affectionately referred to) became a shining star in the dancehall in the early 1980’s. He was the resident deejay for the legendary Black Scorpio sound system and even recorded many songs for the Black Scorpio label which was owned by his manager Jack. Apart from Tree’s success as a reggae artist he stood out as one of the fiercest competitors in rub a dub sound clashes. Many accounts from deejays who had to face him on opposing sounds rank Trees as one of the most difficult deejay to clash against and come away with  a victory. Trees was a crowd favorite anywhere Black Scorpio played and to match up against his skills was reserved for the very ambitious opposing deejays looking to step into the dancehall spotlight.

TOL chose to shine our light on General Trees for this very reason. Trees pioneered styles in the dancehall and used his intelligent and crafty lyrical style to be one of the top ranking deejays in sound clash.

Sessions.

Black Scorpio 1986.

Black Scorpio 1990.

The first feature post on TOL brought on questions that I imagine would be common to a sound system selecta like, Which deejay should be the feature for the sound or which deejay best supports a dub box?. I chose Earlando Arrington Neil better known in the dancehall as Early B (The Doctor). There was no science to how I came to this decision, it was more out of pure admiration and respect for this artist. Early B’s lyrical style and content was sharp and carried the right message.

“B” pioneered many styles in dancehall often mimic’d by other dancehall entertainers like chatting his lyrics live on sound systems in fluent spanish. He mentored a stable of young artists in the dancehall during his time giving many of them an opportunity to bring Jamaica’s Reggae underground music movement in the early 80’s across all ponds.  Calling “B.” one of the greatest poets and entertainers in dancehall is likely be met with some blank gazes. Despite the lack of mainstream exposure in popular mainstream reggae, we honor the late “Doctor” inna dancehall with our first post.

Sessions.

Black Scorpio 1984.

Downbeat 1985.

For many people Reggae music can be somewhat of an oddity. Over the years since it's creation in the poor communities of Kingston Jamaica it has broken away from a linear understanding of the art form into something more fragmented and easier to comprehend partially for the creation of commerce. It is the opinion of contributors to this blog that there is no such genre as "Dancehall" there is just one version, Reggae. The stories we want to bring you are from the artists who contributed a great deal to Reggae music.