Get Ready - Music

General Trees Born Amos Edwards Drews Land Kingston Jamaica C.1960 Was One Of The Most Popular Jamaican Dancehall Deejay Of The 1980s Best Known For His Hits In The Latter Half Of The Decade. General Trees Is Widely Regarded As The Best Jamaican Speed Rapper Of His Era The "fast Style" Of Delivery Commonly Accepted As Arriving In Jamaica From The UK Through London-Born Phillip Papa Levi. He First Found Fame As A Sound System Star Working On Maurice Johnson's Black Scorpio System Which He Had Followed Since The 1970s His Brother Having Preceded Him As A Deejay On The System. His Name Was Given To Him By Barry G Who Thought He Sounded Like "a General With Three Voices In One". When Johnson Opened His Own Studio Also Named Black Scorpio He Began Producing Recordings Including Those By Artists That Had Performed With His Sound System Including Trees And Lord Sassafrass. His Debut Single "Mi God Mi King" Topped The Jamaican Singles Chart And A String Of Hits Followed Including "Heel And Toe" "Monkey And Ape" "Ghost Rider" And "Crucifixion" Although His Best-Remembered Song Is "Mini Bus" Which Lamented The Demise Of The "jolly Bus" And Which Was Awarded The Title "Song Of The Year" In 1986 From The Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation. The Award Raised His Profile And He Went On To Record For A Variety Of Producers In Jamaica. Further Hits Followed With "Gone A Negril" #2 In 1986 And "Calling All Higglers" And He Contributed To A "clash" Album Battle Of The Generals That Featured Versions Of "Lambada" And "Think Twice". Trees Also Recorded Combination Hits Including "Coke Pipe" With Fancy Black And "Nightmare" With Little John. In The Early 1990s He Again Worked With Johnson Who Also Acted As His Manager But A Falling-Out Between The Two Led Trees To Work For Other Producers. Although He Never Repeated His Earlier Popularity He Had Some Success With "Eye Nah See" "Great Jamaican Jockeys" And "Goodie Goodie". He Was Less Active During The Late 1990s Although He Recorded "Lik Him But Nuh Kill Him" For Linval Edwards In 1999. After That He Was Largely Silent Until He Reunited Again With Johnson In 2005 Recording New Songs Including "Run Di Place Again" "Mother Of The Land" And "She Says She Loves Me". A Tour Of Europe With The Black Scorpio Sound System Followed In December 2005. He Then Began Working With The Stur-Gav Sound System. During Breaks In His Career Edwards Fell Back On His Other Trade Of Shoe-Making read less