Rest In Peace: Smiley Culture

Words by Eddie STATS Houghton

Throwback Thursdays has come two days early this week, for the worst of reasons. We’ve just received news that Smiley Culture, innovator of the MC style of reggae in the UK,  has passed away in an incident involving the police in East Surrey, where he lived. Ironically, after years of obscurity, Smiley had just received a spot of press attention, having his pivotal role highlighted in the BBC Reggae Britannia documentary (not to mention our own Top 10 UK Dub & Reggae Anthems). There are already conflicting versions of events flying around, so we will leave to our UK correspondent Gabe Heatwave to tell us what it all means. For the moment, let us run tune and raise a pint in memory of a true pioneer.