Yes, he scored some hits and helped kick off some musical trends, but like most indigenous culture that is prepared for mass consumption, his music is largely bland, lacking in character, and disposable. If Lee’s music was something to many people, it was everything to few. Of course, if you’re going to take an artform to the masses, there’s going to be a tradeoff. Millions of folks may not be as familiar as they are with ska, calypso, or soca, were it not for the efforts of the Jamaican chameleon. Two years later, he was chosen by the Jamaican government to head the Jamaican music contingent at the World’s Fair. He and the Dragonaires were featured in the James Bond film Dr. From early on, he and his Dragonaires were tasked with popularizing Caribbean music on an international scale, especially in North America. Over the course of his nearly 40-year career, Byron Lee presented many sounds to many people.
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