Huford Brown, also known by his stage name U Brown, is a Jamaican reggae musician and deejay from Kingston, Jamaica.
Work with Gorillaz[]
U Brown worked with Gorillaz and the Spacemonkeyz on the production and providing additional vocals for the tracks "A Fistful Of Peanuts", "Strictly Rubbadub", "More Peanuts" and "More Rubbadub" for the dub reworkings album Laika Come Home. He worked on the album alongside another Jamaican dub reggae artist, Earl Sixteen, who also provided vocals for some of the tracks.
He also participated on the live session at the BBC Radio 1, on the tracks "Strictly Rubbadub" and "A Fistful of Peanuts".
Career[]
Heavily influenced by U-RoyW, Huford started out as a DJ on the Silver Bullet Sound System in the early 1970s. He dubbed himself U Brown, and his impassioned vocals bore an uncanny resemblance to those of his idol. In 1976, he had a local hit with 'Starsky and Hutch', which led to a series of albums produced by Bunny LeeW. He then signed to Virgin Records and released the hugely successful single "Black Star Liner" in 1978. The Virgin contract also enabled Brown to travel frequently the UK, where he performed with the Unity Hi Power Sound System, expanding his fanbase. Brown made a triumphant comeback in 1982 with a dancehall version of Dennis BrownW's "If This World Were Mine", retitled "Tu-Sheng-Peng".
Brown set up his record label in 1977 as an outlet for his work as a producer. Artists who released works under the label included James BrownW and Al CampbellW.
Brown relocated to Miami in the 1980s, before returning to Jamaica in 1990. In 1997, Blood & FireW released a compilation of Brown's work from the 1970s, raising his profile and leading to new recordings with Jah WarriorW, among others.