"One of the most distinctive voices in reggae, Desmond Dekker (born Desmond Dacres) was one of Jamaica's first international stars. While taking ska and rocksteady to new musical heights, Dekker used his trademark falsetto to describe the crime and poverty that plagued the newly independent island nation. Classics like 'Israelites' (paralleling the suffering of the Jamaican people, oppressed by centuries of colonial domination, to the ancient plight of the Israelites) and '007' (describing the exploits of the Jamaican rude boys) have made Dekker a living legend -- particularly in the UK where mods and skins deeply identified with his rude boy tales -- and confirmed his role as one of the genre's greatest innovators."