For six weeks in the summer of 1992, Dem a Bleach, by a budding deejay from east Kingston named Nardo Ranks, occupied the number one spot on the RJR Top 40 chart. The song spoke about peoplewho bleached their skins to appear lighter shade.

Now 25 years later, the song is still relevant. “When I did Dem a Bleach, it was in response to Buju Banton’s Love Mi Browning. Bleaching was just catching on at the time and I wanted to highlight that in my song,” Nardo Ranks told the Jamaica Observer in an interview.Dem a Bleach would become the only local chart hit for the deejay whose real name is Gary Henderson. He later scored a Billboard Dance Music Maxi- Singles Sales chart hit with Burrup which reached number 16 in 1993.Originally from the Dunkirk area in east Kingston, Nardo Ranks started out as a disc jockey on sound system Cave Man Hi Power in 1985.He later linked up with fellow east Kingston-based entertainers Little Lenny and Wayne Wonder who introduced him to producers.The first song he recorded was for producer Panta at Harry J studios titled Love to See the Girls in 1989. But it was a collaboration with Wayne Wonder for Techniques Records titled Sound Boy Wah Happen to You that gave him some recognition.Following the success of Dem a Bleach, Nardo signed with New York-based Profile Records which released the album Rough Nardo Ranking in 1993.A few years later he released the album Cool and Humble on Heartbeat Records. In the early 2000s Nardo Ranks moved to Brooklyn, New York, and has lived there since.He also got into acting, having played roles in the films Jamaican Mafia and Jump Off. He recently completed work on a new film titled Artifice Loose Fellowship and Partners in which he plays the role of a drug dealer.Nardo Ranks is also working on new music and he just shot a pilot for a new television series titled Informer.