Audio By Carbonatix
Depending on cultural stigma, a person born with albinism can end up being regarded as a divine messenger or someone who belongs in a circus sideshow exhibit. For Jamaican Winston Foster, this rare pigment deficiency (estimated to occur in one in every 17,000 people) invited hostility and scorn to a lonely childhood otherwise spent in a Kingston orphanage. By the mid-’80s, Foster had rechristened himself Yellowman and parlayed his outsider status into dancehall gold, becoming an unlikely sex symbol and top-selling reggae star. Bold and cocky, with a penchant for slack lyrics that joked about his own complexion and carnal prowess, Yellowman earned a reputation for lewdness, sexism, violence and homophobia. Following near-fatal bouts of throat, jaw and skin cancer during the ’90s, the prolific rude toaster embraced a more socially conscious message, all available for public consumption today, when Yellowman visits Reggae on the Rocks with Majek Fashek, Israel Vibration, Half Pint & Dubcats, Postman Roger and a host of other sun-splashed acts. Pass the kutchie on the left-hand side.
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