Happy born day to one of my favorite reggae singers, the rootical Junior Delgado. Born Oscar Hibbert in Kingston, he was nephew to musician Lenny Hibbert. As a teenager in the early '70s he was a member of the vocal group Time Unlimited, which recorded for Lee "Scratch" Perry, Duke Reid, Tommy Cowan and Bunny Lee. The group scored a hit with "Reaction" (reissued on Pressure Sounds!).
He recorded as Junior Hibbert in the mid '70s with Rupie Edwards and after changing his name to his longtime nickname Delgado he got cracking on even more material: "Everyday Natty" with Niney the Observer, work with Prince Jammy, Augutus Pablo, Joe Gibbs, the classic "Sons of Slaves" w/ Perry, the awesome "Fort Augustus" with Sly & Robbie, and some great material for Dennis Brown's DEB label, including "tition" (produced by Chinna Smith).
In '79 he founded his Incredible Jux label. He unfortunately served some time in the mid '80s on drug charges, taking him off the scene. He returned in '85 with "Broadwater Farm", about a housing project, but the song may have caused a riot (and subsequent killing) and it was banned. The mid '80s saw him back with Pablo, releasing a raggamuffin set on Mango. Delgado also produced his own work, as well as tunes by Yami Bolo and White Mice.
A late '90s comeback yielded an all-star album (Fearless) with Jerry Dammers, Smith & Mighty, the Jungle Brothers and others. After the death of his good friend D. Brown, he recorded a tribute album to the popular singer. Another late gem was the Adrian Sherwood-produced album Reasons (with backing by Tackhead). Delgado died in 2005, reportedly in his sleep of natural causes.