Lieutenant Stitchie
Encyclopedia
Cleveland Laing better known as Lieutenant Stitchie, is a Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

n deejay
Deejay
A deejay is a reggae or dancehall musician who sings and toasts to an instrumental riddim .Deejays are not to be confused with disc jockeys from other music genres like hip-hop, where they select and play music. Dancehall/reggae DJs who select riddims to play are called selectors...

 who originally worked in the dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...

 style but switched to gospel reggae in 1997 after surviving a car crash, thereafter working under the shorter name Stitchie.

Dancehall career

Laing was born is Spanish Town
Spanish Town
Spanish Town is the capital and the largest town in the parish of St. Catherine in the county of Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the former Spanish and English capital of Jamaica from the 16th to the 19th century...

 and worked as a biology teacher at Spanish Town School before embarking on a career in music, for a time pursuing both. In the late 1970s he began his career as a singer. In the mid-1980s he began working on sound systems such as the Django sound system (as DJ Ranking Noseworthy), and released his first single under the name Ranking Citrus, or Citchie for short, being known for his love of citrus fruits. He went on to work on the Stereo One sound system, where he adopted the stage name Stitchie after being credited as such via a misprinted record label. In 1986 he began working with Prince Jammy, recording the single "Wear Yuh Size", followed in 1987 with his debut album Great Ambition. His style was humorous, often adopting the voices of several different characters during a song. His single "Natty Dread" topped the Jamaican charts for fourteen weeks. Commercial success led to a record deal with Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

 in 1988, Stitchie becoming the first dancehall artist to sign a deal with a major record label, releasing the albums The Governor, Wild Jamaican Romances, and Rude Boy. He lost some of his dancehall following so returned to Kingston studios, recording hit records for producers such as Danny Browne, Donovan Germain
Donovan Germain
Donovan Germain is a reggae producer, one of the most successful of the digital era.-Biography:Germain's entry into the music industry was via his record shop in New York City in the 1970s. He began production in 1972, visiting Jamaica for recording sessions, working in both roots reggae and...

, and a return to the now King Jammy. Released from his Atlantic contract in 1994, he had chart-topping singles in Jamaica with "Bun It Down", "Hello Carol", and "Hot Like the Sun". He released the album Gangsta in 1995, now on VP Records
VP Records
VP Records is an independent reggae record label, located in Queens, New York. It is best known for producing Caribbean singers.-The foundation:...

, and Bangarang later that year (on Shanachie Records
Shanachie Records
Shanachie Records was founded in 1976 by Richard Nevins and Dan Collins. According to Harvey Pekar , it is one of the largest independent record labels in the world, and is currently distributed by E1 Music. Starting as a label that specialized in fiddle music, they began releasing work by Celtic...

).

Conversion to Christianity

Stitchie was injured in a car crash in August 1997 while driving to Montego Bay
Montego Bay
Montego Bay is the capital of St. James Parish and the second largest city in Jamaica by area and the fourth by population .It is a tourist destination with duty free shopping, cruise line terminal and the beaches...

 to perform at the Reggae Sumfest
Reggae Sumfest
Reggae Sumfest is the largest concert festival in Jamaica, taking place each year in mid-July in Montego Bay. Sumfest, started in 1993, is officially sponsored by Red Stripe....

 festival, receiving cuts which required hospital treatment. Against medical advice he went on to perform as scheduled, after which he was given a Gideon Bible by a Canadian boy. After reading the Bible in his hotel room he became a Christian and soon moved away from his dancehall songs to work in gospel reggae. Although he completed a further album in the dancehall style (Raw Episode), he refused to promote it, and spent a period away from music, studying the Bible. His first album in the gospel reggae style was To God Be the Glory, released in 1999, with further albums following in a similar style. In 2002, he won the 'Outstanding Male Reggae Vocal Performance of the Year' award at Caribbean Gospel Music Marlin Awards. He has performed at several festivals since adopting gospel, on occasions giving Bible teachings to other performers.

Discography

  • Great Ambition (1987), Jammy's
    King Jammy
    Lloyd James , better known as Prince Jammy or King Jammy, is a dub mixer and record producer. He began his musical career as a dub master at King Tubby's recording studio...

  • The Governor (1989), Atlantic
    Atlantic Records
    Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

  • Wild Jamaican Romances (1991), Atlantic
  • Rude Boy (1993), Atlantic
  • Mad Cobra Meets Lt. Stitchie and Beenie Man (1995), VP
    VP Records
    VP Records is an independent reggae record label, located in Queens, New York. It is best known for producing Caribbean singers.-The foundation:...

     - with Mad Cobra
    Mad Cobra
    Ewart Everton Brown , better known by his stage name of Mad Cobra or simply Cobra is a Jamaican reggae musician.-Biography:...

     and Beenie Man
    Beenie Man
    Anthony Moses Davis , better known by his stage name Beenie Man, is a Grammy award winning Jamaican reggae artist. He is the self-proclaimed "King of the Dancehall".-Biography:...

  • Gangsta (1995), VP
  • Bangarang (1995), Shanachie
    Shanachie Records
    Shanachie Records was founded in 1976 by Richard Nevins and Dan Collins. According to Harvey Pekar , it is one of the largest independent record labels in the world, and is currently distributed by E1 Music. Starting as a label that specialized in fiddle music, they began releasing work by Celtic...

  • Raw Episode (1999), Ernie B
  • To God Be The Glory (1999),
  • Ghetto Soldier (2000), Greensleeves
    Greensleeves Records
    Greensleeves Records & Publishing is a record label specialising in dancehall and reggae music. The company was founded by Chris Cracknell and Chris Sedgwick and started as a small record store in West Ealing, London, in November 1975 and is based in Britain....

  • Real Power (2000),
  • Kingdom Ambassador (2004), Drum & Bass
  • Real Life Story (2007), Drum & Bass
  • Real Power (2007), Drum & Bass
  • Serious Message (2010), Burnside

External links

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