Wayne Smith (musician)
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Wayne Smith (5 December 1965, Waterhouse, Kingston, Jamaica - 17 February, 2014, Kingston, Jamaica) was a Jamaican reggae and dancehall musician.
Biography
His 1985 recording of "(Under Me) Sleng Teng", is generally regarded as the beginning of ragga style reggae. The rhythm was created on a Casio MT-40 and is based on the riff from Eddie Cochran's "Somethin' Else". Although there are a number of conflicting stories about how it was first found, the commonly accepted view is that Wayne Smith and Noel Davy discovered it. It is a pattern found in the Casio MT-40
Other songs included "E20", "Ism Skisim", "Time Is A Moment In Space", "Wicked Man", "To Dam Craven" and "Music On My Mind".
After leaving Jamaica for New York in 1989, he established his own record label, Sleng Teng Records. He worked as well with several record producers from New York, Jamaica and Europe, such as Heartical Sound and Evidence Music.
In 2011, Smith made his first European tour with Little Lion Sound from Switzerland.
Smith died on February 17, 2014, in Kingston Public Hospital, aged 48.
