Biography
Born Dwight Duncan in the lush picturesque hilltop village of Spring Garden, St. Thomas, Jamaica, Bushman was raised as a Rasta since the tender age of two. His love for music began at an early age and was nurtured by his music teacher at the Lysson All Age School who noticed his potential. Throughout his school years, he shined as a member of the school choir and drum corp where he participated in numerous school concerts. He was also a member of the New Testament Church of God Choir, where he earned the name Ark Angel.
During his teenage years, Bushman, then known as Junior Melody, became the selector for Black Star Line sound-system and took part in several singing competitions and talent searches in and around St. Thomas. Gaining a strong local fan base, he began to sing dubplates for local sound-systems such as Lees Unlimited, Mello Construction, King Majesty and others. The rave reviews from the sound selectors and the people of his community encouraged Bushman to take his talent to the next level—the studios of Kingston. These were hard times for Bushman and traveling to Kingston is a seventy-mile return journey so he would have to hitchhike most of the time, sharing one bulla and a bag juice with anyone of his friends that dared to make the journey with him. After many months of traveling to Kingston and waiting around at the studios, an impromptu game of football at Arrows Dubplate studio put Bushman in the presence of Steely and Clevie where Steely invited him to audition after hearing Bushman sing. Their first song together was “Grow Your Natty,” followed by the hit “Call The Hearse.” With talks of an album, Steely wished to change the name Junior Melody to Bushman. Initially, Bushman was not happy with this name at all as he thought it somehow derogatory to him coming from the country until he researched the name only to discover that Bushman was an Afrikan name for Medicine Man. Bushman became the musical Medicine Man.
Bushman has been full filling the meaning of this name to date. “Call The Hearse” became a big hit in Jamaica and England, after which followed some live dates. Bushman received a rapturous welcome on a short US tour followed by more live shows in Jamaica. Bushman released his first album Nyah Man Chant on the UK label Greensleeves 1997 which earned a five-star rating all over the world. King Jammy (Lloyd James) produced Bushman’s next two albums, Total Commitment and Higher Ground. Since then, he has released his fourth album, A Better Place, as well as numerous singles and continues to tour all over the world.