Kirk Davis


There is hardly anything visibly small about Little Kirk; except for the effort he invests in the delivery of his honey-laden notes. In an era when the ordinary is considered exceptional and the average deemed brilliant, one encounters great difficulty in summoning words to qualify the incredible vocal gifts of this remarkable artiste. There are those who contend that such a richly textured voice should never have lent itself to the singing of Reggae. These misguided purists are driven by the notion that his enormous talents would be better served if he devoted his time to the singing of ballads in the vein of Luther Vandross. The fact is that Reggae and Rhythm and Blues are both the better for having Little Kirk, now Kirk Davis represent himself through their musical structure. In his current project, ‘Natural’, Kirk displays a greater range of vocal skill on a variety of tracks. ‘Love You Lord’ is a spiritually moving track; ‘She’s A Go Go’ with Beenie Man is an up tempo dancehall jam, while the title track ‘Natural (Stay Away)’ features a powerful, yet haunting melody. Kirk’s vocals are blended with instrumentals from the Firehouse Crew, Dean Fraser, Paul ‘Titus’ Green and Andrew ‘Grumps’ Thomas. Dancehall, lover’s rock, R&B and gospel influenced tracks combine to deliver an album with an international flavour. Born and raised in Waterhouse, Kirk entered an area talent contest with friend and stable mate Beenie Man in 1981. Each was adjudged the winner of his respective category and was subsequently invited by Patrick Roberts to join his Shocking Vibes label. They would become mainstays of this illustrious label. Kirk has done a number of covers, a definite credit to the originals. His rendition of Michael Jackson's ‘Man In The Mirror’ has earned its place among classic musical remakes. He has logged a string of superlative performances among these stand appearances in Japan, Europe, the United States, Canada, South America, Africa and the Caribbean Islands. Kirk’s live performances invoke all the passion and emotion denoted in his recordings. 1997 found Kirk in quite a productive frame of mind. ‘Ghetto Girl’ on the Cloak & Dagger rhythm, ‘Girls’ on the popular Odour rhythm, ‘Happy’ a cover of Michael Jackson number done on the Buju Banton's Gargamel label and ‘Him A Di Man’ for Tony Rebel's Flames label are all efforts from Kirk of 1997 vintage. In the late 90’s, Kirk teamed with producer Donovan Germain on ‘Lalabella’ and released several tracks with Shocking Vibes including ‘Agony’ on the Scarface rhythm and ‘Everytime’ on the Joker rhythm, even as he continued his worldwide touring. If one needs any indication of where Kirk is going, one needs only to listen to the riveting original ballad ‘Natural (Stay Away)’ to know that his destination is in the stars. One should also lend an ear to ‘What a Lala’, a number he does with Beenie Man is a clear demonstration that Kirk is still firmly anchored to his roots.