Ghetto Splash ’92 (Pt 4)

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Capleton, Panhead, Major Mackerel, Ghost & Culture, Papa Biggy, Chevelle Franklin, and Angie Angel are featured in this edition of Ghetto Splash ’92.

Chevelle Franklyn (born 4 March 1974) is a Jamaican reggae and gospel reggae singer. Born in the Tawes Pen area of Spanish Town in St. Catherine Parish, Franklyn was the fourth in a family of ten children. She was forced to leave school at the age of fourteen to help support her family and found work singing at hotels and resorts. After a year or two, she came to Kingston and worked with various producers there – Rohan Harrison, who had recorded her first single (“Here I Am”) when she was 14, Steely & Clevie (“No One in the World”, 1989) and Winston Riley. Manager and producer Mikey Bennett encouraged her to improve her education. Produced by Harrison and Bennett, her first hit song was “Nice and Naughty” (1992). This helped lead to collaborations with major stars like deejay Spragga Benz (“A-1 Lover”, 1995), Shabba Ranks (“Mr. Lover Man”, 1991), deejay Lady G (“Thank You”, 1995) and Beenie Man (the song and album Dancehall Queen, 1997). The latter was also used in the 1997 Jamaican movie Dancehall Queen. Franklyn was frustrated that she was usually replaced by an actress in the accompanying videos, and wanted to raise her profile as an artist. After the release of her album Serious Girl in 1996, Franklyn toured extensively in the Caribbean, the UK, and the US.
In 1998 Franklyn was about to perform “Dancehall Queen” on stage during a concert and instead performed Kirk Franklin’s gospel song “Silver and Gold”, announcing that she had become a Christian. After collaborations in 2000 with deejays Papa San (“Touch From You”) and Lieutenant Stitchie (“Mr. Lover” – a charting hit in the US), she released her first gospel album, Joy, in 2001, toured internationally, and won (in 2002) 5 Caribbean Gospel Reggae Marlin Awards. Her gospel music was controversial with some for combining dancehall with gospel. Her album His Way was released in 2006; another album, Shake It Off (2008), was the product of a 2007 tour of South Africa and featured South African musicians and ministers. In 2008 she also performed in Lagos, Nigeria at “The Experience”, a gospel mega-concert that attracted 400,000 attendees. In 2009 she was featured on one track (“Surely Goodness”) on American Christian musician Israel Houghton’s album The Power of One; the album won the Grammy award in 2010 for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album. Since then, she has continued to tour.
Franklyn performed at the inauguration of Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness on March 3, 2016. She released the album Set Time in 2017; the album included tracks with gospel artists Israel Houghton and Donnie McClurkin. The album peaked at #12 on the Billboard Reggae Album chart on September 16, 2017.

Angela Cameron aka Angie Angel and artists such as Sister Nancy and Lady Anne indisputably proved that women were equally adept as DJs in the dance hall. The aspiring reggae queen, Angie Angel, embarked on her career with producers Oswald Thomas and Philip Morgan. The duo released her debut, ‘Settle Yuself’, on their Black Solidarity label in 1987. The release was well received although it was with Patrick Roberts of the Shocking Vibes crew that she gained international notoriety. With Roberts, she released ‘Agony’, which went platinum when it was given a jungle remix in the UK. In 1992 she performed alongside the Mystic Revealers at the Jamaican Reggae Sunsplash festival.
In 1993 and 1994 Angie Angel was honoured as Best Cultural DJ and additionally won the Canadian Reggae Awards in the Top International DJ category.

Anthony Johnson aka Pan Head was born 1966, in the parish of St Mary, Jamaica, and who died October 10th, 1993, was a dancehall deejay. Pan Head emerged in 1985, and after working for several years with the Love Vibration and Scorpio sound systems, he released his first single, “Gimme Lickle Lovin'” in 1988. Early releases such as “Respect Gunman”, “Punny Printer”, and “Gunman Tune” were immediately popular in Jamaica. As his popularity grew, he performed with the likes of Buju Banton, Beenie Man, and Capleton. Earlier themes of violence and homophobia gave way in 1993 to more mature subject matter with “African Princess”, “Under Bondage”, and “Teaser”. Although he was predicted to be a major star, his career was cut short when he was shot dead as he left a dance in Spanish Town in October 1993, leaving a widow and two children. The crime has never been solved.
Pan Head’s death shocked the music community in Kingston, and prompted several performers to record tributes; Capleton recorded “Cold Blooded Murderer”, Buju Banton released the single “Murderer”, and Beenie Man and Luciano collaborated on “No Mama No Cry”, which went to number one in Jamaica in 1994.