Cutty Ranks
Cutty Ranks in 2021
Background information
Birth namePhilip Thomas
Born (1965-02-12) 12 February 1965 (age 58)
Clarendon Parish, Jamaica
GenresDancehall[1]
Occupation(s)Singer
Years active1986–present
Labels

Philip Thomas (born 12 February 1965), better known as Cutty Ranks, is a Jamaican dancehall singer.

Biography

Thomas was born in Clarendon Parish, Jamaica in 1965.[2][3] He began his career as a reggae artist at the age of eleven with local sound systems, going on to work with the Gemini sound system, before moving on to work with Tony Rebel's Rebel Tone and Papa Roots,[4] and later working with Stereo Mars, Arrows and Metro Media.[2][3] He joined Killamanjaro where he worked alongside Early B, Super Cat, Puddy Roots, and Little Twitch, and then Sturmars where he worked with Josey Wales, Nicodemus, Super Cat, U Brown and Yami Bolo.[4] His first job on leaving school was as a butcher.[3]

During the eighties, Ranks moved on to the Arrows sound system and his 1986 debut single "Gunman Lyrics" was recorded for Winston Riley's Techniques label.[4] He also recorded such tracks as "Out of Hand" and "Fishman Lyrics" with Riley and after spending some time in Miami working with Super Cat and Nicodemus, he worked with Patrick Roberts' Shocking Vibes label, releasing the single "The Bomber".[3] In 1990, he joined Donovan Germain's Penthouse label, enjoying a hit with "Pon Mi Nozzle".[3]

Ranks came to the attention of London-based Fashion Records, and in 1991 he released "The Stopper" and a debut album of the same name for Fashion, following this up with the album Lethal Weapon in the same year for Penthouse, featuring singers such as Marcia Griffiths, Dennis Brown, Wayne Wonder and Beres Hammond. His follow-up albums From Mi Heart and Six Million Ways to Die were released on Priority Records in 1996. Six Million Ways to Die included a hip hop remix of Ranks' song "A Who Seh Me Dun" which was voiced earlier over the Bam Bam riddim in 1992. In 2000, he released the album Back with a Vengeance produced by King Jammy. This album saw Ranks venture into other musical styles, including hip hop and dancehall.

He now releases music on his own Philip Music label.[2] He has rejected the 'slackness' of modern dancehall in favour of more 'cultural' concerns.[2] In 2012, he released the album Full Blast, featuring guest appearances from Beres Hammond, Luciano, and Gwen Guthrie.[5] In 2013, he featured on 2 Chainz's "Slums of the Ghetto" and a remix of T.RONE's "Hello Love".[1]

In 2018, his vocals were featured on El Chombo's reggaeton song "Dame Tu Cosita", which was originally released in 1997 in short form on the album Cuentos de la Cripta 2, titled "Introducción B (El Cosita Mix)" which features Ranks' sampled vocals from the track "Kill Them Out".[6] In 2020, he contributed vocals to the Run the Jewels song "Holy Calamafuck" from their album Run the Jewels 4.[7]

Discography

Albums

Compilations

Collaborations/split albums

Singles

1980s
1990s
2000s
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2021)
2010s

References

  1. ^ a b "Cutty Ranks on hip-hop remixes". The Jamaica Observer. 9 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d Campbell-Livingston, Cecelia (1 June 2012). "Cutty Ranks comes out Full Blast". The Jamaica Observer. Archived from the original on 4 June 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d e Larkin, Colin (1998). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae. Virgin Books. pp. 237–238. ISBN 0-7535-0242-9.
  4. ^ a b c Moskowitz, David Vlado (2006). Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock Steady, and Dancehall. Greenwood Press. p. 76. ISBN 0-313-33158-8.
  5. ^ "Quickies: Cutty Ranks Releases New Album". The Gleaner. 13 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  6. ^ "Cutty gets higher Rank". Jamaica Observer. 21 April 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  7. ^ RTJ4 (PDF) (digital booklet). Run the Jewels. BMG. 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

External links

Authority control databases
Categories