As Shabba Ranks (Rexton Gordon) is about to be honored by the government of Jamaica with the Order of Distinction (OD) on Monday, October 17, for his outstanding contributions to music and to brand Jamaica, here is my true and accurate recollection of the beginning of his journey. It was a day in October 1987, I was running a bit behind schedule to catch my return flight to New York, I had my radio show on Thursday night/Friday morning. Usually, I would stop by the various record companies to get the latest releases. This particular Thursday afternoon I only had time to stop by one and I decided to make it Tuff Gong Records. I figured it was off Marcus Garvey Drive, and I could just jump on it and head … Read entire article »