Rankin' wid da riddim
Trailing decades of street cred, Brixton boy Tippa Irie is with top toasting
British dancehall toaster Tippa Irie returns to Bangkok tonight, churning feet at the new Studio Lam on Sukhumvit Soi 51. He’ll be performing alongside Bangkok DJs Maft Sai and Ga-Pi.
Hailing from Brixton in South London, Tippa Irie (real name Anthony Henry) came to prominence in the early ’80s as an emcee with the district’s reggae sound system, Saxon Studio International. By the mid-’80s he was a regular on BBC Radio 1 and then had a Top 40 hit with “Hello Darling”.
Irie has performed on 15 albums that generated a string of No 1 hits, including “Hey Mama” with the Black Eyed Peas, “Hello Darling”, “Raggamuffin Girl” featuring Peter Hunnigale, “Stress” featuring Lloyd Brown, “Superwoman” with Winsome, and “Baby I’ve Been Missing You” with Janet Lee Davis. There was also “Sensi” featuring the Long Beach Dub All Stars and “Shouting for the Gunners”, a song originally recorded for the Arsenal football club that reached the Top 30.
Irie was part of the generation of British emcees that developed the fast patter that evolved into modern rap. He toured extensively with his friend and long-time sparring partner, Pato Banton, formerly of the Beat, and together they played Jamaica’s Reggae Sunsplash festival. Tippa and Pato became one of the genre’s favourite teams, but split up in the early ’90s to pursue solo careers.
The level of respect Irie garnered has never wavered. The surviving members of Sublime made sure their debut as the Long Beach Dub All Stars on Dreamworks Records, “Right Back” in 1999, had the necessary dancehall credentials by commissioning Irie to contribute “Sensi” and tour North America with them.
In 2000 Irie accompanied UB40 on the sold-out Labour of Love III British tour and then summoned back into the studio for the All Stars’ “Wonders of the World” album, recording “Life Goes On” with Half Pint and Jurassic Five’s Chali 2na. Impressed with Irie’s rapid-fire lyricism, the Jurassic Five asked him to collaborate with Chali 2na on “The Struggle”.
The rap world took notice and soon Irie was again being summoned to record with some of the industry’s biggest stars. Irie was nominated for a Best Rap Song Grammy award for “Hey Mama”, recorded with Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas for the chart-busting “Elephunk” album. He’s also on “Dum Diddley” on the group’s “Monkey Business” album.
Since 2010 Irie has been touring and touring, reaching Serbia and Russia as well as criss-crossing North America, backed by his own label, Lockdown Productions.
