Bobby Digital (Jamaican producer)

Bobby Grantley Dixon (March 11, 1961 – May 22, 2020), known as Bobby Digital, was a Jamaican reggae and dancehall producer. He was given his nickname "Bobby Digital" because King Jammy, with whom he worked in the mid-1980s, had begun experimenting with digital rhythms at around the same time.<ref name="jamaicaobserver.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He owned the Digital B label, and among the artists with hits on the label are Shabba Ranks and Sizzla. He has influenced reggae artists such as Admiral Tibet.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Biography

Dixon was born on March 11, 1961, the third of five children in the Waterhouse district of Kingston.<ref name="nyt" /> He grew up attending dances in the 1970s, which featured sound systems such as Socialist Roots and Tippertone.<ref name="Morgan" />

Dixon began working with King Jammy in Kingston in 1985.<ref name="Campbell1801">Campbell, Howard (2018) "Wicked Times: VP Revisits the Legacy of Bobby Digital", Jamaica Observer, 19 January 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2018</ref> He struck out on his own in 1988, opening the Heatwave studio and forming the Digital B label,<ref name="jamaicaobserver.com"/><ref name="Thompson">Thompson, Dave (2002) Reggae & Caribbean Music, Backbeat Books, Template:ISBN, p. 309-310</ref> and thereafter a successful distribution company.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the 1980s, Dixon helped stylize the computerized phase of Jamaican music, as an accomplished digital engineer.<ref name="Music">Template:Cite book</ref>

In the late 1980s and early 1990s he was the producer for works by Shabba Ranks, Cocoa Tea, Super Cat and Garnett Silk.<ref name="Campbell1801" /><ref name="Morgan">Morgan, Simone (2012) "Going Digital – A chat with one of dancehall's top producers", Jamaica Observer, 2 December 2012. retrieved 2 December 2012</ref><ref name="Thompson" /> He explored styles such as dancehall, lovers rock and roots reggae. He also formed his own sound system Heatwave.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In the late 1990s he began to work with artists such as Morgan Heritage, Sizzla, Anthony B and Richie Spice. He was the producer of Sizzla's Black Woman and Child album of the late 1990s.<ref name="Morgan" /> Morgan Heritage's Protect Us, Jah also released in the late 1990s was another known collaboration, as well as their three-volume Morgan Heritage Family and Friends. Also recorded to panamanian singer Reggae Sam various singles and dubplates for VP RECORDS.

Dixon produced more albums for Richie Spice, Anthony B, Morgan Heritage, Chezidek, Ras Shiloh, Louie Culture, LMS, Mikey Spice, and Norris Man.

Dixon died in Kingston on May 21, 2020, at the age of 59 following a kidney-related illness.<ref name="nyt">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

External links

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