Daddy Freddy

S. Frederick Small — known professionally as Daddy Freddy — was born in 1965 in Kingston, Jamaica. He is a ragga vocalist, MC and producer whose work sits at the intersection of ragga, dub, jungle and drum and bass.

Daddy Freddy grew up in Trenchtown and began recording in the mid-1980s. His first single, "Zoo Party," appeared in 1985 and his debut album Body Lasher followed in 1986. In 1987 he collaborated with Asher D on the album Ragamuffin Hip-Hop, a project that explicitly bridged ragga vocal styles and hip‑hop rhythms. In 1989 he set a widely reported record as the "world's fastest rapper" during the Capital Radio Music Festival and on the BBC programme Record Breakers.

Vocally, Daddy Freddy is defined by rapid-fire toasting and tight rhythmic phrasing. The 1989 speed record is concrete evidence of his unusually fast delivery; that technique produces densely packed vocal lines, off‑beat syncopation and fast patter that translate directly when layered over high‑tempo tracks. His voice often emphasizes staccato enunciation and quick internal rhymes, which producers and DJs have used as vocal hooks in ragga‑inflected jungle and drum and bass sets.

As a producer and recording artist, Daddy Freddy's recorded output from the mid‑80s shows a direct crossing of ragga and contemporary beat forms: the single "Zoo Party" (1985) and the Body Lasher album (1986) present ragga vocalism tracked to electronic backing, and the Ragamuffin Hip-Hop album (1987) with Asher D explicitly pairs ragga vocals with hip‑hop production. Those releases are specific examples of his role in pushing ragga vocal techniques into faster, beat‑driven contexts that DJs and remixers later worked with in jungle and DnB settings.

Daddy Freddy has continued to record, perform and collaborate with producers and artists across reggae, ragga and adjacent scenes. After relocating to the United Kingdom — he has been reported as based in Bristol — he remained active on stage and in the studio, bringing his rapid toasting and MC skills into live sets and recorded collaborations.

Concrete connections in his documented career include the collaboration with Asher D on Ragamuffin Hip-Hop (1987) and the early releases "Zoo Party" (1985) and Body Lasher (1986). His Trenchtown upbringing and those mid‑80s recordings are the clearest, verifiable influences on his technique: fast, rhythmically dense ragga delivery built to sit on top of electronic and sampled backings. As reported, he lives in Bristol and continues to record and perform within reggae, ragga and related scenes.