In the Beginning
Super Cat, a.k.a Dan Dada, a.k.a the Wild Apache, came
roaring out of Jamaica in the 1980s, blazing a new trail through the dancehall
reggae scene with hits like "Ghetto Red Hot",
"Nuff Man A
Dead", "Boops" and "Dolly My Baby" . One of the first
Jamaican DJs to break through the U.S. market, Cat helped pioneer the fusion of
dancehall with Hip Hop and R&B, collaborating with then rising stars like
Puff Daddy, Heavy D, Mary J. Blige, Wu-Tang Clan’s Method Man, Kris Kross and
DJ Muggs from Cypress Hill. Outspoken in his attitude on politics, sex, drugs,
and violence, Cat’s talk is tough, his message is conscious and positive, a
cry for justice that rings from the ghettos of Kingston, Jamaica, to New York
City to South Central, Los Angeles and around the world.
Dancehall reggae, with its ‘toasting’ DJs and
record-spinning ‘selectors,’ has been around nearly as long as reggae
itself. In fact, it was the original inspiration for American-style rap music
– and Super Cat absorbed the DJ’s art at its source in foundation.
Of
African and East Indian descent, Super Cat was born William Maragh in
Kingston’s tough Seivright Gardens neighborhood, then known as Cockburn Pen.
"Super Cat was born home delivery," as he tells it. "and I never,
ever reached the low-spital (sic)." Cockburn Pen was a hotbed of dancehall
reggae and home to ground-breaking DJs like Prince Jazzbo and U-Roy. As a child,
William Maragh heard the latest songs by theses veterans blasting from local
record shops. By the time he was eight years old he was hanging out at a local
club called Bamboo Lawn, assisting the crew of the Soul Imperial sound system
and absorbing the dancehall rhymes of DJs like Dillinger, Ranking Trevor and
Early B The Doctor. "In the environment where I lived, you had to find
something real to survive," he says, "that was the music, and I went
straightaway into it. It is not something I practiced—I didn’t take music
lessons – by hanging around the dancehall and the artists, I automatically
became one of them."
"As a teenager, I found myself traveling the 14 parishes
of Jamaica performing on various sound-systems alongside DJs and singers like
Little Johnny Wonder, Michael Prophet, Barrington Levy, Don Carlos, Eek-A-Mouse,
Yellowman, Toyan , Lee Van Cleeff, Louie Lepke, and even a juvenile Beenie
Man",Super Cat continues on, "I – man, Mentor the late great Early B
the Doctor then formed the Super Posse Crew, which included a young Ninjaman
(then known as Uglyman), the late great Iron Man, German, Muma Nancy, the late
great Audie Murphy, the late great Daddy Wayne, and Junior Cat-the youngest
member" .
Cat’s first DJ name, Cat-A-Rock, given to him by Abraham
Ferron aka Echo--who was one of the younger brothers of George Ferron – the
same Georgie who used to "Keep the Fire Burning" in Bob Marley’s
"Stir It Up". The name Cat-A-Rock was changed by another late, great
friend, Poet Jimmy Andem to Super Cat, which describes his stage persona of
cultural assertiveness and vision as opposed to the former nickname that had
sounded close to blind like a cataract. It was Early B. The Doctor who dubbed
Cat the Wild Apache, an allusion to his partial East Indian ancestry.
Moving up through sound systems like Crystal Blue, Stereo Grav,
Virgo, Soul II Soul, Tape-Tone Hi-Fi latter to become King Jammy’s Hi-Fi,
Supreme Of Love, Papa Roots Hi-Fi, King Majesty, Black Scorpio, Studio Mix,
Kilimanjaro, and Stur Mars, Super Cat the Wild Apache, developed into a well
skilled and accomplished DJ. Cat’s aggressive and conscious performances on
sound systems throughout Jamaica earned him great popularity in the dancehall.
Super Cat became a recording artist in 1981 with the single
"Mr. Walker" alongside DJ Bruk Back and produced by Winston Riley for
the Techniques label. Cat followed it up with single after single :
"Walk-A-Thon" produced by Jah Thomas for The Midnight Rock Label,
"Ride and Shut Off" Produced by Early B for the One Wheel Wheelie
Label, "Trash and Ready" Produced by King Jammy’s , and
"Vineyard Party", the first dancehall hit for Super Cat also debuted
the legendary Skengdon label. Super Cat scored his first landmark number one
reggae hit with "Boops" in 1985 which can be found along with the
conscious anthem "Cry Fi Di Youth" on Super Cat’s first album Si
Boops Deh on the Techniques Label . With a string of hits under his
belt, Super Cat left Jamaica to perform alongside the late, great legendary
dancehall DJ conqueror Nicodemus in front of reggae fans in England and
the United States.
Cat voiced a string of singles for George Phang’s Power
House Label: "Under Pressure"
, "Glory, Glory" and "Sid
Dun Pon It" ; Producer Wayne Ottey’s label: "Teach Dem Sum
Ting" and "Hell A Come" and for Producer Wayne Smith’s Sleng
Teng label: "Sandokan" and "Reality".
The album titled Boops.on the Skengdon label featured
"How Mr. Cat Go A America" and "Vineyard Party". Skengdon
issued the legendary single "Permit Fe Gun", the dancehall hit
"Mud Up" and the number one smash "Sweets For My Sweets".
The latter two songs became the framework on which Super Cat would forge his
future away from voicing songs for producers.
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