WELCOME TO RuffCompany Records

General Smiley is best known as a member of the groundbreaking deejay duo Papa Michigan and General Smiley, the first pairing of its kind in dancehall music. While he enjoyed success with Papa Michigan with songs such as ‘Rub a Dub Sty;e’, ‘Nice up The Dance’, and ‘Diseases’, General Smiley has made a name on his own as an artist, producer, and record company owner. Since 1996, he has operated the successful RuffCompany Records out of California, producing several roots artists including Mykal Rose, Andrew Bees (lead singer of Black Uhuru), General Jah-Mikey, Mello Banton, Mikey Banton and Maia The Toad.Along the way, he has recorded two solo albums which are among the highlights of his career. “The most satisfying aspect of my music career so far is recording my solo albums, ‘General Smiley Meets McPullish at The Dub Cove’ and ‘Aim Goal Plan’. As an artist and as a producer I would say my greatest accomplishment is being able to build instrumentals that artists are able and willing to voice,” he said. Born Errol Bennett, General Smiley is from the Kingston 13 area of Kingston. Known for its rugged, at times violent outbursts, the area has produced countless artists including Tappa Zukie, Sugar Minott, Linval Thompson, Michael Palmer and Michael Prophet. All of these acts cut their teeth on sound systems before launching their recording careers.Working the sound system circuit prepared Papa Michigan and General Smiley for their studio debut in 1979, shortly after they first met. Recorded on the famous ‘I’m Just A Guy’ (made famous by Alton Ellis) beat, ‘Rub A Dub Style’ was their initial hit that year, followed by ‘Nice up The Dance’ one year later.“Michigan and General Smiley were trailblazers because we made history by being the first Jamaican reggae deejay duo, plus we were not toasters and rhymers, we were putting composition to rhythm tracks, and that I think was what made us unique,’ Smiley explained.Those singles, accompanied by four other songs on popular Studio One rhythms, were released as ‘Nice up The Dance’, their first album. By 1982, they caught the attention of producer Henry "Junjo" Lawes, whose Volcano Records was the hottest label in Jamaica at the time with acts like Barrington Levy and Yellowman.For Lawes, they recorded their biggest hit, ‘Diseases’ on the ‘Mad Mad’ riddim. This track was featured on their second album, ‘Downpression’. Also, in 1982 they recorded the socially-conscious ‘One Love Jamdown’, written by JahNet Enwright.Another production released by Papa Michigan and General Smiley in 1982 was ‘Step by Step’, an album for Channel One Records. The last of their hits was ‘Sugar Daddy’, released in 1983; an album of the same name was released three years later by RAS Records.Papa Michigan and General Smiley went solo in the late 1990s. The latter has released albums and a raft of songs since then, produced by RuffCompany Records, which also distributes and markets his works.In 2023, General Smiley showed a different side to his talent, when he released ‘The Seal of my Soul’, his first book of poems.General Smiley has toured Northern California, the northeast U.S., northwest U.S., and southeast U.S for nearly 20 years. He has been embraced by a new generation of artists such as Part One Tribe Band from Cocoa Beach, Florida, Soul Medic from Nevada City, California along with Jah Works of Big Island, Hawaii, Mr. Kali from New Mexico as well as working with veteran Ken Serious from Clarendon in Jamaica, now based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Maia The Toad, an American rock singer from Tucson, Arizona, is the latest to put her spin on Fever. Her reggae take was released in early December by RuffCompany Records, owned by Errol “General Smiley” Bennett, who also produced the track.

Based in Los Angeles, Maia The Toad cut Fever on a beat similar to the one Andy cut his version at Studio One in 1972. Although she likes that reggae version, her favorite rendition of Fever is Lee’s, done in 1958.

“My big goal was to make both Peggy Lee fans and reggae people from all over the world share a positive experience together when listening to the song. I tried to maintain as many elements from the original as possible by trying to replicate Peggy Lee’s velvety vocals, while adding a little more dancehall for the reggae lovers,” she said.

It was General Smiley’s idea for Maia The Toad to take on Fever. The veteran deejay, a former member of the dancehall duo, Papa Michigan and General Smiley, thought it would be good to step outside of her comfort zone.

The singer, whose biggest musical influences include Amy Winehouse, Patti Smith and Chuck Berry, agreed and Fever became her second reggae song.

“l came out with a song called Planet Jam off of my first album titled Nebular back in 2019 but have not revisited the genre until now, and I’m very excited to keep putting out more stuff like this,” said Maia The Toad.

With Papa Michigan, General Smiley found fame in 1979 and 1980 with songs like Rub A Dub Style and Nice up The Dance, produced by Clement Dodd for Studio One.

Recording artiste Shami Bey is committed to creating music that will impact humanity positively.

“Choosing a music career came naturally to me because I was born in a musical household. I have a message to share, I’m on a mission to raise the vibration of humanity and the planet to higher levels of consciousness. I want to see more unity and consciousness in the music industry. Come on brothers and sisters it’s time to start vibrating at a higher frequency and uplift humanity,” said Shami Bey.

The vivacious California native describes her musical style as a fusion of roots reggae and 90s R&B.

“When you listen to my music, you’ll hear hints of roots reggae and 90s R&B because those are the genres I grew up listening to. I guess you could say my music is a fusion of both genres and something in between,” she said.

Shami Bey is currently promoting her new single titled ‘Fyah’. The song which was co-produced by her and Lutan Fyah was released on her Sacred Fire imprint on April 11.

“I’m very happy with the response that my new single is receiving. The video for it was released two weeks ago and it’s also doing well.”

Shami Bey given name Jessica Haynes is from Oakland, California. She began recording professionally in 2020.

Horace Ferguson spent his youth in Spanishtown before moving to Linstead, St. Catherine. At the age of fifteen, he heard on a radio show the address to GG's record store and decided to visit it. Horace auditioned for GG who after hearing him sing and liking what he had heard decided to give him a chance. It resulted in the song »Look What You Have Done« and later a cover of »Midnight Hour«. The producer being impressed by the youth decided to sign a five-year contract with him. The relationship wasn't successful though and Horace ended up never recording for him again.

        The following years Horace didn't record anything as his contract with GG's was still in effect. Horace soon met Prince Jazzbo and the first thing he recorded after his long hiatus from the recording scene was the song »Sensi Addict« in 1983 (which he soon enough re-recorded in the more known digital version - this also in '83). The latter version of the song became quite an underground hit. The lyrics of the song being a tribute to marijuana. Horace himself, a fitness fan and soccer player, wouldn't inhale any substances to his lungs and throat for fear of damaging his voice.

        He also recorded »Great Stone« and »Tranquilizer« all singles being released on Jazzbos Ujama imprint. He would also record a cover of Horace Andy's song »Fever«. He would after this only record two songs for other producers than Jazzbo - the songs »The News« and a do-over of the song »Guzuma«.

        His debut, Sensi Addict, was released in 1987. It gathered singles the singles he had recorded for Jazzbo. The album was mostly digital with only two songs being backed by live musicians, »Slave« by the Roots Radics and »Bossman« on the same rhythm as Jazzbo's» Kick Boy Face«.

        With the song »Touch the General« Horace had another hit and he later released the album The General. The album was almost lost forever when the master tape unravelled being transferred from pancake to reel.

Musically, Althea is the complete package. She deftly incorporates reggae, pop, R&B and jazz into her music, thanks to the extensive vocal training, as well as speech, acting and dance courses she has taken at the prestigious Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. She also has a background in music production, and produces her own shows, songs and engineers from her home studio.

Not confining herself to merely belting out tunes, Althea has also exercised her talents as songwriter, actress and model. These talents, along with her music have taken her across the world. She’s taken stages throughout Europe, North and South America, and even to the Micronesian island chain of New Caledonia, a French Pacific territory some 750 miles east of Australia. One of her proudest moments, however, was representing her home, Jamaica, as part of cultural showcase in Brussels, Belgium.

After releasing her successful debut compilation, “Introducing Althea Hewitt” which yielded the tracks “Boom Boom Boom”, “Unconditional Love”, and “Save Me”, among others, she came “Stronger” in 2019 – the name being the title of both her follow-up album and powerful hit single. In 2020, she released her EP, “My Black Is Strong”, featuring powerful tracks such as “My Joy”, “Freedom” and the title track, ‘My Black is Strong.”