Asher D & Daddy Freddy — Ragamuffin Hip-Hop

In 1986, Anthony "Asher D" Pixley returned from a trip to Jamaica and signed with the Music of Life label as a rapper, as Simon Harris, the label's founder, was looking for someone who could mix hip-hop and reggae, noting the artistry quality of the boy, born in England and originally from Jamaica. Harris arranged a joint session between Asher D and a second rapper, who ultimately didn't show up and was replaced by Frederick "Daddy Freddy" Small, a Jamaican ragga singer.

The two artists recorded "Ragamuffin Hip-Hop", released as a single in 1987, which quickly became one of the label's first hits and Asher D's first, giving birth to an entire subgenre later known as «ragamuffin hip-hop». The track received substantial radio airplay in the United Kingdom, while on the other side of the Atlantic it made its way thanks to the New Music Seminar in New York, when Harris introduced the record to radio DJ Mr. Magic. The airplay of the song on Mr. Magic's radio immediately attracted the attention of major American record labels, including Profile Records, which had Run-DMC under contract, which took the rights and immediately released the duo's song in the United States.

Soon after, Asher D & Daddy Freddy recorded an entire album that mixed hip-hop and reggae. Overall, it's an honest and a bit too long LP. Nine tracks, most well beyond five minutes. Being an alternative record for the 1988 hip hop scene, it's normal for it to stand out with its reggae vibes. It presents simple skinny rhythms, with an always minimal and skeletal drum machine that suffers little variation during listening. The hooks are simple, functional, while the delivery chosen by the duo is smooth, simple, often fast. Unfortunately, in retrospect, it's really a bit below the general average, despite being fully accessible musically. It doesn't have a banger, nor obvious weaknesses, but even with two or three plays you have no track or rhythm in mind.

Released by Music of Life in the UK, Profile in the US and BCM in German-speaking countries, a cassette also arrives in Indonesia, the album is received lukewarmly by critics and fans, producing a minor hit ("Brutality"). In the following years, the duo takes part in the album "Hustler Convention" (1989), considered to be the first live album in hip-hop and Asher D is later arrested and imprisoned. In the meantime, Daddy Freddy continues his solo artistic career and so does Asher D once he's released. Asher D releases other albums until the early nineties, then disappears from the scene also following the appearance of his homonymous artist in the early 2000s.