Junior Kelly is a consummate lyricist and able vocalist whose sing-jay style proves the guy can rough it up with the best dancehall vocalists or smooth it out as suavely as Dennis Brown. Raised in Kingston in the 1970s, Kelly was the youngest child in his family and was well protected by older siblings and his parents from the harsh economic realities of their life, but that protective bubble was burst when Kelly's older brother Jim, a budding artist with the Kilimanjaro sound system, was shot. Kelly witnessed the murder and was sent to live in the countryside for his protection. Sadly Junior Kelly is not as big a star in Jamaica as he is in England and the United States.