Ninjaman
b. Desmond Ballantine, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Notorious from his long history of fearless controversy on record, stage show and sound system, Ninjaman's popularity in the Jamaican dancehalls has been unrivalled. He began DJing when he was 12, progressing to the Black Culture sound system and then Kilimanjaro, where from 1984 onwards he was apprentice to Supercat and Early B, known as Double Ugly. When another DJ appeared with the same name he became Uglyman, recording his debut for the Soul Carib label. That name too was short-lived; a second Uglyman arrived and, determined to forge an invincible identity of his own, Ugly quickly became Ninja. His first hit, Protection, was self-produced, and voiced alongside Courtney Melody in 1987. The following year Lloyd Dennis teamed him with Tinga Stewart for a notable string of hits including Cover Me and then Zig It Up, duetted with Flourgon. His early producers included King Jammys, Witty, Redman and Ini Kamoze, but it was with the advent of the Gulf War in 1990 that he became transformed into the archetypal outlaw; brandishing the title of Original Front Tooth, Gold Tooth, Gun Pon Tooth Don Gorgon, recording a bounty of apocalyptic ‘burial’ tunes interspersed with the most uncompromising ‘reality’ lyrics heard from any DJ of the ragga era. His sense of melodrama and stuttering verbal walkabouts are unique; he spread his fiery invective over many fine sides for Bobby Digital (Permit To Bury, Fulfilment), King Jammys (Border Clash/Reality Yuh Want), Mr. Doo (Murder Weapon), Gussie Clarke (Above The Law), Steely & Clevie (Murder Dem) and Exterminator throughout 1991-1992. Among his many targets have been Shabba Ranks, who has had to endure an incessant stream of taunts over the years. By the end of 1992, after surviving a bout of Christianity, arrest on gun charges and a flood of imitators, his talents had become over-exposed, though he remained one of the few genuinely original DJs to remain without a major record deal. Instead he made unremarkable albums for Henry Junjo Lawes and then Junior Reid, still waiting for a much-deserved wider audience.