Two of Jesse Jendah’s colleagues from Xterminator Records remember the fiery deejay as an uncompromising messenger of the Rastafarian faith who was never afraid to speak his mind.

Jesse Jendah, who died August 7 in New York City at age 58, was a member of producer Philip “Fatis” Burrell’s camp during the 1990s.

His wife Natasha confirmed his passing but did not give a cause of death.

Former label-mates at Xterminator Records include Luciano, Sizzla, and Mikey General.

Speaking to the Jamaica Observer from London, Mikey General credits Jesse Jendah with educating fellow artistes about international affairs.

“Jesse used to talk ’bout people like di [financiers] Rothschilds, and J P Morgan, and di illuminati. Him talk ’bout dem people deh long before anybody hear ’bout dem. Him used to give di artistes all kinda books to read,” he said.

Mikey General toured Europe and the United States with Jesse Jendah. Backing them on those trips was the Firehouse Crew, house band for Xterminator Records, for which George “Dusty” Miller is drummer.

Miller remembers Jesse Jendah as “a jolly bredrin an’ a real Rastaman”. They first met prior to the artiste joining Burrell’s stable.

“He had a big song in America called Eternal Father, but he wasn’t a Ras yet. After a while him step away from di whole Babylon ting an’ became very spiritual,” he said.

Born Otis Campbell in Vere, Clarendon, Jesse Jendah attended Glenmuir High School and the then Vere Technical.

He launched his recording career during the 1980s but made his mark with Xterminator Records a decade later with songs like Mark of The Beast.

An unapologetic advocate for legalisation of ganja, he infamously offered a stash of the weed to Prime Minister P J Patterson during a 1999 meeting with music industry figures at King’s House in St Andrew. Patterson was not amused by the gesture.

In a 2016 interview with the Observer Jesse Jendah called politicians such as Patterson hypocrites for investing in ganja-based projects once legislation to decriminalise the weed in Jamaica passed in the Senate one year earlier.

“What I was telling tell the former PM is what they are trying to do now. How much I would have loved that the PM was the late PM Michael Manley! It is not shocking to I now to see P J Patterson mobilising the marijuana programme,” he said.

Jesse Jendah is survived by his mother, several children and grandchildren, two brothers and two sisters.