Bless Up, Mi Dads: Ten Current Caribbean Artists and Their Musical Fathers

June 14, 2011


Queen Ifrica and Derrick Morgan

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Child: Queen Ifrica
Why You Know Her:
As both a singer and a deejay, Ifrika has been among reggae/dancehall’s most consistent female performers in recent years, drawing critical praise for her life-affirming and hard-hitting lyrics.
Father: Derrick Morgan
Why You Should Know Him:
A ska pioneer and Prince Buster’s primary rival during the genre’s formative years, Morgan was one of the biggest Jamaican hitmakers of the 1960s. His cover of Ben E. King’s “Seven Letters” is sometimes cited as the first true reggae song. As a producer, he took a young Garnet Silk under his wing in the late ’80s, convincing the then-aspiring deejay to take up singing.