Dave Kelly is one of the very rare breed of dancehall heavyweight who scrupulously avoids the limelight. So while it is impossible for anyone with more than a fleeting, retro session interest in dancehall to not know his name, very, very few would know his face.

They know his beats and his words, though, as Kelly is a unique, consistent dancehall triple talent - writing lyrics, music production and sheer business acumen.

So while many producers are notorious for pinching credits where they have not made an input, when a song says written by Dave Kelly, chances are that applies to the music and the words. An example is Action, the mid-1990s Terror Fabulous and Nadine Sutherland Billboard hit.

In terms of music production, the 'Pepperseed' and 'Joyride' rhythms were among the many that hit big for Kelly in the 1990s, the producer countering the rapid-fire pace of mid-2000s dancehall to drop Cham's Ghetto Storyand Yellowman'sOrphan on the 85 rhythm. In 2010, there was a reunion of sorts on Stronger, which Bounty Killer and Cham recorded for Kelly.

business side

And on the business side, Kelly, who runs the Xtra Large and Madhouse labels, pioneered the CD single release with his 'Bug' rhythm in September 1999,Look (Bounty Killer), Ghetto Pledge (Baby Cham) and Spragga Benz's Can't Get No Galamong the handful of fast-selling songs.

Dave Kelly epitomises the natural development of digital dancehall, where the person who best adapts to the new technology and takes the lead in being a self-contained entity is top of the reordered production and distribution world. Kelly was studio engineer at Tuff Gong and Penthouse before hitting the real big times and ruling much of the 1990s into early 2000s with his own productions.

Kelly eventually relocated to Miami. Cham is probably the artiste he has worked with most consistently over several years in a long dancehall run where, as Terror Fabulous once deejayed, "Madhouse production gone pon top!"