Wayne Smith Under Me Sleng Teng

The facts behind Wayne Smith's "Under Mi Sleng Teng" is deliciously interesting. This instrumental changed the course of reggae music forever, churning out a plethora of digital riddims on its heels. Wayne Smith and Noel Davey originated the digital sound using a Casiotone Mt40 Keyboard, the riff being a sample from "Hang Onto Yourself" from David Bowie's Album Ziggy Stardust. Casio's employee Okuda Hiroko improved the riff for the Casiotone keyboard and the Jamaican youths tinkered creating an everlasting anthem under the masterful hands of Lloyd "Kings Jammy" James. This fresh and dynamic sound drew many outside of Jamaica to the genre of dancehall. At this time the 18 year old Wayne Smith had been on the reggae scene for some time voicing dubs for sound systems, even releasing two full albums by the time he was 14. Barrington Levy's dancehall hit "Under Mi Sensi" was his inspiration for "Under Mi Sleng Teng". The song's success heralded a historical milestone revolutionizing the sound of reggae and also the way in which dancehall songs were recorded. Up until that time the artist would approach the studio with a song taking along the lyrics and the instrumental, but the Sleng Teng hit created the role of the digital engineer who churned out sturdy computerized riddims and then invited artistes to voice. To date there are more than 500 titles using the Sleng Teng instrumental.