Dennis Alcapone

Dennis Alcapone, born Dennis Asquith Smith, is a Jamaican reggae DJ and producer. In 2018, he received the Prime Minister's Medal of Appreciation from Andrew Holness.

Early life

Alcapone was born in Clarendon, Jamaica. He initially trained as a welder and worked for the Jamaica Public Service.

Career

Inspired by the big sound systems that he had visited in his youth such as those run by Duke Reid, Coxsone Dodd and Prince Buster, and particularly King Tubby's Home Town Hi-Fi, which featured the DJ U-Roy, and the Kentone sound system featuring DJ Pampado, Smith teamed up with two friends, Lizzy and Samuel the First, to set up his own "El Paso" sound system in 1969.

With Smith as DJ, the El Paso sound system caught the attention of producer Keith Hudson, who asked him to record for him, starting with "Marker Version", with singles following in the form of "Spanish Amigo", "Shades Of Hudson", "Revelation Version", "Maca Version" and "The Sky's The Limit", all in 1970.

Smith then moved to Coxsone Dodd's Studio One where he decided on a change of name, 'Al Capone' being a nickname that had stuck with him since going to see a gangster movie with friends. This resulted in the...

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