Half Pint

Chorus
Cause we are all in unity together
With all we posse inside
Come let's make it right
We are all in unity together
With all we posse inside
Come on come on harmoniously

Thus sings conscious crooner Half Pint on his latest release Unity. It's a theme he has visited several times over the three-decade span of his career, as fans of One Big Family and Level The Vibes can attest. Half Pint's sense of the spiritual origins of unity is borne out when he sings in Verse 3:

Flesh of my flesh blood of my blood
So he speaketh from the cradle
So it is written let us break bread
And sip wine around the table
I know, I know, I know I am willing and able
Do you really want to
Anything is possible I know I know
The internationally loved artiste will bring that vibe and more to the city of Montego Bay when he is featured on Reggae Sumfest come Saturday, July 21.

Half Pint, born Lindon Roberts on November 11, 1961, is responsible for some of reggae's classics, including the evergreen anthem Greetings. Blessed with a distinctive voice and sound which sets him apart on Jamaica's musical landscape, he was the first major artiste produced by Prince Jammy (later King Jammy). Raised in the Rose Lane area of West Kingston, he was dubbed 'Half Pint' because of his size.

The singer, who says he looked up to artistes such as Harry Belafonte, The Paragons, Bob Andy and Beres Hammond, first sang in his school choir, and after finishing Penwood Secondary in 1976, toured with various sound systems, including Black Scorpio, Jammys, Gemini, Lee's Unlimited and Killimanjaro. In 1983, he ended up in the recording studio with Prince Jammy, then a protégé of King Tubby. Half Pint's debut single, Sally was released in 1983 and was followed up by his first hit, Winsome. Winsome was actually covered by the rock band The Rolling Stones as Too Rude on their 1986 album Dirty Work. More hits followed, such as Mr Landlord, Money Man Skank, One in a Million, One Big Family, Poochie Lou, and the aforementioned Level the Vibes - some of which are still heard today at any self-respecting dance or stage show.

His first mini-album, Money Man Skank was released in 1984, and was followed by One In A Million later that year. In 1985, Half Pint joined Sly & Robbie on their Taxi Gang tour, and recorded several songs with them, such as Night Life Lady, Hold On, and World Inflation. Later that year, he worked with producer George Phang, which led to the monster hit Greetings. Half Pint followed it with Cost Of Living, and issued an album called Greetings and subsequently another titled Victory. After some time away from the limelight he returned in 1992 with Substitute Lover before taking a break from the recording studio. The punk band, Sublime, covered one of his songs, Loving, in 1996.
Half Pint finally returned to action with 1998's Legal We Legal, and followed it two years later with Closer To You. His songs have also been featured in film soundtracks.

A consummate singer and performer, Half-Pint was honoured earlier this year at the 26th annual International Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMA) with the special 'Producer's Respect Award', as was Gregory Isaacs at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, New York and will be one of the artistes performing with festival honourees Lloyd Parkes and We the People at this year's staging of Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest.

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