Cutty Ranks

Born in Jamaica's Clarendon Parish in 1965, dancehall icon Philip Thomas—a.k.a. Cutty Ranks—MCed with local sound systems as a pre-teen but took up butchering upon leaving school. (It’s a career choice reflected in the lyrics of his 1993 single "Limb By Limb", among other tracks.) Known for his gruff voice, stolid presence and lethal street rhymes, Ranks released his 1986 debut single, "Gunman Lyrics", for Winston Riley's Techniques label. He succeeded Shabba Ranks' dancehall dominance during the early '90s, eventually rolling out a long string of murderous singles—including "Hitman", "Time to Die" and "Undertake"—and albums such as Lethal Weapons (1991) and Six Million Ways to Die (1996). Still, Ranks tempered his rude-boy persona throughout his dancehall career by chanting rootsier cultural verses in more mainstream collaborations, including with Dennis Brown, Marcia Griffiths and Cocoa Tea, before eventually rejecting dancehall slackness altogether.