Prince Buster
THE MAN from Orange Street defied the 'establishments'.
HE IS Cecil Campbell, aka Prince Buster. He was a self-declared human rights activist who fought for the people of his beloved downtown Kingston.
He established a sound system called The Voice Of the People. He had an intense rivalry with Duke Reid, the Trojan, and today he bears the scars in his head where Reid, said to have been an aggressive man, inflicted a wound during one of their many conflicts.
Buster's contribution was monumental in that, with little or no resources, he took on the might of the sound system world, dominated by Coxsone, Reid and King Edwards. In so doing, he became the first sound system to play all Jamaican music.
As a recording artiste, Buster continued to punch at the 'system'. There was an epic rivalry between himself and fellow 'skaman' Derrick Morgan. The two would write songs with discrediting statements aimed at each other. Those songs have lived on throughout the history of Jamaican music.
Prince Buster has produced a large number of fledgling and established Jamaican artistes.
