U-Roy, the king of deejays, joins Ernie Smith tonight live at Studio 38, Pulse Centre, Trafalgar Road. The concert, previously scheduled for Sunday April 18, was postponed due to inclement weather.

U-Roy, Jamaica’s original deejay is the latest of Jamaica’s musical greats to appear in the Live at Studio 38 Concert Series. The legendary toaster follows the likes of John Holt, Ken Booth, Freddie McGregor, Beres Hammond, Toots & The Maytals and AJ Brown, who have performed at Studio 38 since January.

Known as the Originator and popularly called Daddy U-Roy for his pioneering role in Jamaica’s deejay musical style, U-Roy once had four songs in the top four positions on Jamaica’s Hit Parade.

Born Ewart Beckford in Jones Town, Jamaica, he began his career in 1961 deejaying at various sound systems, including a stint operating Sir Coxsone Dodd’s Number Two set and working at Duke Reid’s Sound System in the late 1960s. Around this period, King Tubby had started to experiment with his studio equipment in an attempt to create new effects and sounds, which would eventually lead to a new style of Reggae called dub music.

With U-Roy as his most prominent deejay and with access to some of Treasure Isle Studios’ finest rocksteady rhythms, King Tubby’s new sound became popular and U-Roy became a local celebrity.

In 1969, he recorded Dynamic Fashion Way for Keith Hudson and then went on to work with almost every major producer on the island — Lee Perry, Peter Tosh, Bunny Lee, Phil Pratt, Sonia Pottinger, Rupie Edwards, Alvin Ranglin and Lloyd Daley.

Working with Duke Reid, U-Roy’s fame grew through a series of singles, including Wake the Town and Wear You to the Ball.

U-Roy’s success continued throughout the 1970s, perhaps most famously with the album Dread in a Babylon, produced by ‘Prince’ Tony Robinson and propelled by the album’s skank smash hit Runaway Girl. The album cover features an iconic picture of U-Roy disappearing in a thick cloud of cannabis smoke while holding a chalice and included the song Chalice in the Palace, which in a satirical manner he imagines smoking ganja with Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace.

In 2007, U-Roy was awarded Jamaica’s Order of Distinction.