Rebirth Of The Cool Ruler is a 15-track excursion into the late reggae singer Gregory Isaacs’ late 80s/early 90s catalog with producer King Jammy, featuring a host of top contemporary artists singing alongside the ‘Cool Ruler.’

Feature artists include Shaggy, Sean Paul, Bounty Killer, Junior Reid, Chaka Demus, Alborosie, Bunny General, and Ras Shiloh and current artists Jesse Royal, Projexx, Aza Lineage, Ras Demo, Brandon The Messenjah, Claire Angel, and Flinix. Riddims include the popular “China Town,” which Sean Paul rides on “Another Try.” Singer Alborosie goes into the deep catalog with his update of Isaacs’ “Over The Bridge.” Each artist works in tandem with Isaacs from the multi-track master recordings, a follow-up to a series that began with New Sounds Of Freedom (Black Uhuru) and King Jammy Presents Dennis Brown Tracks Of Life. Enter to win a vinyl copy of Rebirth Of The Cool Ruler now!

“When Jammy called me to do this track, it didn’t take much thought,” says singer and emcee Shaggy, who added verses to Isaacs ‘It Go So.’ “The track was selected by Jammy, and I just did my thing in tribute to Gregory and Gregory’s legacy. Gregory was a genius,” he continues. “I don’t think he ever wrote a song (in advance). He just made it up on the spot. He would pluck his guitar and come up with melodies, just freestyle everything.”

Producer King Jammy recalls his years working with the iconic reggae vocalist. “When I used to work down by King Tubby’s studio, I used to do a lot of work for Gregory Isaacs. Gregory used to come, and I mixed tracks for him, voice him down there, but I never had the courage to ask him to do a song for me because he was such a big artist. I was afraid to really ask him to do a tune for me. One day I got the courage, … (and I) say ‘Gregory mon, you do a tune for me? Me pay you to do a tune for me.’ Him say ‘boy, you’re there at Tubby’s the whole time, you never ask me to do a tune yet?! You think you grow big and I’ll do a tune for you now that you have money?!’ So I say, ‘how much you want?’ He said ‘alright, put on the riddim.’ Anyway, he did the song and didn’t take any money from me. He said ‘is alright, that’s your present’ (laughs). He came back again and said he wanted do an album. We ended up doing around seven albums.”

Gregory Isaacs – Singer, Cool Ruler

Gregory Isaacs, OD, (1951-2010) is one of the most important and prolific singers in Jamaican music history. His “Night Nurse” (1982) is one of the most popular and recognizable songs in the entire reggae canon, streaming more than 100 million, as of 2023. One of the cream of reggae’s gifted crop of singers to emerge in the 70s, he remained relevant for decades, finding his stride at the apex of the Lovers Rock era, with “Night Nurse,” “Top Ten,” “My Only Lover,” and “Soon Forward” helping define the genre. He stayed at the top of the game as reggae embraced digital production, with the iconic “Rumours” for Gussie Clarke and the album Red Rose For Gregory (Greensleeves, 1988).

King Jammy – Producer

Born Lloyd James and initially known as Prince Jammy, he became the undisputed King when digital production took over Jamaican music in the mid-1980s. His influence on the development of dub music and reggae production is incalculable.

Having refined his mixing acumen under his mentor King Tubby in the late 70s, Jammy developed his own aesthetic as reggae turned the corner into the 1980s, enhanced by access to the most relevant new artists from his neighborhood of Waterhouse. First with Black Uhuru, then with an array of singers including Johnny Osbourne, Barry Brown, Junior Reid, and most famously Wayne Smith, whose “Under Mi Sleng Teng” is considered a transitional marker in a globally influential continuum of music.

By the 1990s, King Jammy’s productions and his soundsystem were synonymous with reggae and dancehall itself. He has also overseen one of the most successful clashing soundsystems in the world for three decades and was honored with a tribute set at Reggae Sumfest 2023 in Jamaica.

King Jammy’s history with VP Records dates back to the late 1970s and now includes most of the major titles in his catalog. His most recent releases for VP were King Jammy Destroys The Virus With Dub in 2022 and the compilation of late 80s digital scorchers Cries From The Youth (July 2023).

— Carter Van Pelt

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