Ward 21
| Ward 21 | |
|---|---|
 Ward 21 feat. Marcy Chin at the Ruhr Reggae Summer 2014 |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Kingston , Jamaica |
| Genre (s) | Dancehall , reggae |
| founding | 1998 |
| Website | ward21music.com |
| Current occupation | |
| Mark "Mean Dawg" Henry | |
| Andre "Suku" Gray | |
| Kunley "Kunz" McCarthy | |
| former members | |
| Ranaldo "Rumblood" Evans (until 2008) | |
Ward 21 is a Jamaican dancehall formation which is one of the most successful artists of the genre worldwide and is named after the psychiatry department of Kingston's University Hospital , the "Ward 21". The 1998 in Waterhouse, a borough of Kingston, originally had four members who were brought together by the music producer King Jammy .
Members
Andre "Suku" Gray
Andre Gray, known as Suku , met King Jammys through Mean Dawg and Jammy's son Christopher James. Before that he played in the Road Sonic Sound System, but his talent soon surpassed Road Sonic and brought him to King Jammys in 1995, where he first worked in the recording editing studio, later as an assistant engineer and from 1998 as a senior engineer. In the same year, Ward 21's first riddim, Badda Badda, was created . Suku is now a father of seven and a successful producer of the Riddims Trilogy , Scarface , I-Rob , The Rock and Trifecta , as well as some titles for Sean Paul . His own label is called "Mizik Music".
Kunley "Kunz" McCarthy
Kunley "Kunz" McCarthy worked at Road Sonic , as a member of the Fab Five Road Crue and as an accountant before joining Ward 21. He also got to know King Jammys through Suku and also played in The Mighty King Jammys Super Power before working as a technology apprentice in the studio. He soon gave advice, made suggestions for improving songs, until he finally released his first debut single, Haters ( Badda Badda Riddim ), Ward 21 . Kunley's peculiarity is his fast spoken singing style in baritone . He is particularly successful as a songwriter and has composed, for example, Rhyme , Garrison , Hey Gal or Full Up the Party feat. Wayne Marshall . Kunley also has his own label "Wiletunes".
Mark "Mean Dawg" Henry
Mark Mean Dawg Henry, the oldest member of the group, grew up in Waterhouse, on King Jammy's legendary dancehall studios. He got his first job in the music industry at Bug Striker Sound System . King Jammys soon found out about his talent and offered him a job as a DJ in the team of his sound system The Mighty King Jammys Super Power , through which all four members later came together to finally found Ward 21. Before that, Mean Dawg was also a sound engineer and assistant technician for Bounty Killer . In 2005 he founded his own label Looney Bin .
Ranaldo "Rumblood" Evans (until 2008)
The youngest member, Ranaldo Rumblood Evans, started out as a member of the Young Peoples Performing Arts Group and later as an amateur DJ on a friend's label, Street Fighter , while he was in high school. Through Suku, who was working there as a DJ at that time, he got to Jammy's Studios and got a job in the recording editing studio. Aside from the talent he brought in, Ward 21 benefited from Ranaldo's young, humorous personality, which strengthened the group's image. In 2008 he left the group.
Andre "Suku" Gray
Kunley, "Kunz" McCarthy
Mark "Mean Dawg" Henry
Discography
Albums
- 2001: Mentally Disturbed
- 2003: U Know How We Roll
- 2006: King of the World
- 2008: The Gal Sittin
- 2009: Genesis
- 2014: Still Disturbed
- 2016: Power Surge
Singles
- 2013: Mashup The Dance ( Major Lazer featuring the Partysquad and Ward 21)
- 2014: Mic Magician featuring Marcy Chin & DeeWunn
- 2014: Spot the J
Tours
After touring around the world, Ward 21 now has a very international fan base and also appears regularly at European reggae / dancehall events. In their numerous appearances they also played with Shaggy , Black Uhuru , Yellowman and Gentleman, among others .
In addition to concerts in the USA , the Caribbean and Japan , Ward 21 is also on tour very often in Europe . As part of the release of their current studio album Still Disturbed , they played three tours with around 60 concerts across Europe. In April 2015, they were the first ever Jamaican dancehall act to perform in Chile and Argentina .
