Red Fox "The Rough Voice From Jamaica"

Red Fox "The Rough Voice From Jamaica"

Gareth Shelton a.k.a “Red Fox” was born and raised in St. Catherine, Jamaica West Indies. Red Fox attended St. Catherine High School (“STCHS”) and concentrated his studies in the mechanical engineering field. While attending STCHS, Red fox honed is lyrical skills by performing at numerous concerts and parties held at the school as well as entertaining and impressing his friends and classmates with his flawless and creative lyrical delivery similar to that of his idol “King Yellowman”. However, prior to his graduation he migrated to the United States in 1986 and resided in Brooklyn New York where he started his professional career recording for Peter Mckensie a veteran dancehall producer and owner of an independent label called FM Force. It only took a few months for the Fox to make his mark in the dancehall releasing songs like "Come Boogie Down" in 1988 and one of his signature tunes “Down in Jamaica” in 1989. His brother-in-law "Stress Altimus" was very interested in the guidance of the up and coming star and made a link with a Disc Jockey known as "Sting International.” Performing almost every weekend at the infamous Underground night Club hosted by David Levy, Fox began to cross over big time into the hip hop market. Red Fox and Sting began working with independent labels such as "Signet records" and "Tanya" where he made the classic "Pose Off in Yuh Pum Pum shorts" with dancehall genius Screechy Dan. Red Fox then helped to form the first dancehall group The "RUFF ENTRY Crew with other Djs like Screechy Dan, Bajja Jedd, Rayvon, Nikey Fungus, Mr. Easy, Natural Lee and last but definitely not least, “Mr. Lover Lover” Shaggy. At such a tender age, Red Fox was laying the blue print for the foundation of future and current Dancehall and Reggae artist. He toured constantly and was a staple act every major club in the New York area including the legendary Act III, Underground, Bentley’s, Red Zone, Biltmore Ballroom, Village Hut, Q-Club, Reggae Lunge, …. In addition to performing at these legendary clubs, Red Fox was the most requested dancehall artist to perform at the major universities in New York and across the United States. His Ruff Entry crew with the likes of Screechy Don, Rayvon and Shaggy constantly rocked the crowd with their numerous hits and high-energetic gyrating performances. It was only a matter of time before the majors got interested in the rising star. Joe Mignon a friend of his brother-in-law introduced Fox to a booking agent known as Erskine Issac. Erkine began managing the young dancehall star and booked him on various shows with the red hot Shabba Ranks, Super Cat, R & B and Hip Hop acts such as the legendary rap group Brand Nubien. In 1990 Red Fox has made history by becoming the first dancehall artiste to perform on the Jay Leno Show on National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) with the legendary Wailing Souls. In 1993 Red Fox finally had made an indelible mark not only for himself but also for his Ruff Entry Crew and for all future dancehall artiste by signing a lucrative deal a major record label called Elecktra Records making him the first dancehall artist ever to be sign out of New York. His debut album As A Matter of Fox helped to bridge the gap with Dancehall and Hip Hop featuring such tracks as "Dem a Murderer,", "I'm Gonna Take You Home," the gospel sound (years before beanie manmade the dancehall gospel sound a hit in 1998's "Gospel Time") of "Ghetto Gospel," and the icky C&C Music Factory pop dance sound of "Golden Axe." and the smooth "Hey! Mr. Rude Bwoy," featuring rappers Brand Nubian (sans Grand Puba). He then followed up with Face The Fox on VP Records. In 2005 Alicia Keys and Red Fox Reggae remix duet of "If I Ain't Got You" peaked at #4 on the NY Reggae Singles Charts after just 6 short weeks and then spent the rest of the summer blasting out on the airwaves on stations like Hot 97, WBLS, and Link-Up radio. Red Fox has release numerous hit singles on various independent labels including Bashment Party with Rayvon which was ranked in the top dancehall charts and is still a party favorite in the clubs. Red Fox has been on tour for the last seven years with Maxi Priest in Brazil, Japan, Canada, Australia, Africa, Europe etc… In August 2006 at the inaugrural return of Jamaica’s infamous summer festival Reggae, Red Fox return to his roots and performed on International Night with a solo performance then with Maxi Priest. Currently, Red Fox is completing the US-Based Reggae Sunsplash Tour with UB40, Maxi Priest, Third World, Rik Rok and others. Additionally, Red Fox is currently working on his third album which is temporarily called “The Charm”. Some artist just gets better wid time and Red Fox is definitely one a dem. Watch out people! Di Fox deh pon di Prowl. Mr. Dapper Slap.

Reggae Portugal May 2007