Editing Toasting (Jamaican music)

{{short description|Talking or chanting to an instrumental rhythm}}

[[File:Big Youth crop.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Big Youth]] is typical of [[Disc jockey#Dancehall/reggae deejays|reggae deejays]] who toast]]

{{Music of Jamaica}}

'''Toasting''' ('''rap''' in other parts of the Anglo Caribbean) or '''deejaying''' is the act of [[Speech|talking]], usually in a monotone melody, over a [[rhythm]] or [[Beat (music)|beat]] by a [[Disc jockey#reggae|deejay]]. It can either be improvised or pre-written. Toasting developed in Jamaica, before it took up that name and being part of the sound system era, a similar sound of it is found in [[mento]] and now can be heard over musical styles including [[ska]], [[reggae]], [[dancehall]], [[dub music|dub]], [[Grime music|grime]], [[Hip hop music|hip hop]], [[Soca music|soca]] and [[bouyon music]]. The combination of singing and toasting is known as [[singjay]]ing.

In the late 1950s in Jamaica, one of the first Selector,<ref> Machuki & Stitt interview [Part 1] [UNCUT]</ref> also being a promoter optimized of using a mic and to entertain an audience while playing records was [[Count Matchuki]].<ref>[[Lloyd Bradley]]. [{{Google books|plainurl=y|id=NSnaAAAAMAAJ |page=268|text=Joe Gibbs dabbled in prototype toasting with Count Matchuki; as did Duke Reid, to much greater effect, with U-Roy.}} This is reggae music: the story of Jamaica's music ]. {{ISBN|978-0802138286}}</ref> He conceived the idea for being comically entertaining from listening to commercial ads and disc jockeys on American radio stations etc.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Augustyn |first=Heather |date=2015 |title=Spinning Wheels: The Circular Evolution of Jive, Toasting, and Rap |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43488956 |journal=Caribbean Quarterly |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=60–74 |doi=10.1080/00086495.2015.11672548 |jstor=43488956 |issn=0008-6495}}</ref> He would create and come up with comical phrases also doing African American [[Glossary of jive talk|jive]] over the music while selecting and playing R&B music. Deejays like Count Machuki working for producers would play the latest hits on traveling [[Sound system (Jamaican)|sound systems]] at parties and add his vocals to the music. These talks consisted of comedy, boastful commentaries, half-sung rhymes, rhythmic chants, squeals, screams and rhymed storytelling.

Osbourne Ruddock ({{aka}} [[King Tubby]]) was a Jamaican sound recording engineer who created vocal-less rhythm backing tracks that were used by DJs doing toasting by creating one-off vinyl discs (also known as [[dub plate]]s) of songs without the vocals and adding echo and sound effects.<ref>Charles R. Acland. {{Google books|id=_wLPo51YIWEC|page=104|title=Residual media }}</ref>

Late 1960s toasting deejays included [[U-Roy]]<ref>{{cite web|website=[[AllMusic]]|title=DJ/Toasting |url=http://www.allmusic.com/explore/style/dj-toasting-d612 |access-date=2012-06-09}}</ref> and [[Dennis Alcapone]], the latter known for mixing gangster talk with humor in his toasting. In the early 1970s, toasting deejays included [[I-Roy]] (his nickname is in homage to U-Roy) and [[Dillinger (musician)|Dillinger]], the latter known for his humorous toasting style. In the early 1970s with the rise of dub [[Big Youth]] became popular, also [[Prince Jazzbo]] in his early appearance toasting with more cadence on dubs. In the late 1970s, [[Trinity (musician)|Trinity]] followed.

The 1980s saw the first deejay toasting duo, [[Michigan & Smiley]], and the development of toasting outside of Jamaica. In England, [[Pato Banton]] explored his Caribbean roots, humorous and political toasting<ref name="rhapsody">
{{cite web
| url = http://www.rhapsody.com/genre/reggae/dj-toasting
| title = Deejay Toasting
| access-date = 2006-08-04
| publisher = Rhapsody.com
}}</ref> while [[Ranking Roger]] of the Second Wave or Two-Tone [[ska]] revival band [[The Beat (British band)|The Beat]] from the 1980s did Jamaican toasting over music that blended ska, pop, and some [[Punk rock|punk]] influences.

Jamaican deejay toasting also influenced various types of dance music, such as [[Oldschool jungle|jungle music]] and [[UK garage]]. Dancehall artists that have achieved pop hits with toasting-influenced vocals include [[Shabba Ranks]], [[Shaggy (artist)|Shaggy]], [[Lady Saw]], [[Sean Paul]], [[Terror Fabulous]] and [[Damian Marley]].

==See also==
{{colbegin|colwidth=30em}}
* [[A cappella]]
* [[Beatbox]]
* [[Dancehall]] 
* [[Disc jockey#Dancehall/reggae deejays|Deejay]] 
* [[Doo-wop]]
* [[Onomatopoeia]]
* [[Scat singing]]
* [[Singjay]]
* [[Rapping]]
* [[Vocalese]]
* [[Voice instrumental music]]
{{colend}}

==References==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Reflist}}

{{reggae}}

[[Category:Poetic rhythm]]
[[Category:Reggae]]
[[Category:Music of Jamaica]]
[[Category:Dancehall]]