REVERED RECORD PRODUCER BOBBY DIGITAL, DIES AT 59!

Producer Robert “Bobby Digital” Dixon, has died at the age of 59.

Robert “Bobby Digital” Dixon was born March 11, 1961 in Kingston, and was an influential Jamaican reggae and dancehall producer. He was given his nickname “Bobby Digital” because King Jammy, whom he worked with in the mid-1980’s, had begun experimenting with digital rhythms at around the same time.^[1] He owns the Digital B label, and among the artists with hits on the label are Shabba Ranks and Sizzla. He has influenced reggae artists such as Admiral Tibet.^[2]

Born the third of five children in the Waterhouse district of Kingston, Dixon grew up attending dances in the 1970s, which featured sound systems such as Socialist Roots and Tippertone.^[3]

Dixon began working with King Jammy in Kingston in 1985.^[4] He struck out on his own in 1988, opening the Heatwave studio and forming the Digital B label,^[1][5] and thereafter a successful distribution company.^[6] In the 1980s, Dixon helped stylize the computerized phase of Jamaican music, as an accomplished digital engineer.^[7]

In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s he was the producer for works by Shabba Ranks, Cocoa Tea, Super Cat and Garnett Silk.^[4][3][5] He explored styles such as dancehall, lovers rock and roots reggae. He also formed his own sound system Heatwave.^[8]

In the late 1990’s he began to work with artists such as Morgan Heritage, Sizzla, Anthony B and Richie Spice. He was the producer of Sizzla’s Black Woman and Child album of the late 1990’s.^[3] Morgan Heritage’s Protect Us, Jah. Also released in the late 1990’s was another known collaboration, as well as their three-volume Morgan Heritage Family and Friends.

Dixon has produced more recent albums for Richie Spice, Anthony B, Morgan Heritage, Chezidek, Ras Shiloh, Louie Culture, LMS, Mikey Spice, and Norris Man.