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Ward 21

In 1998, Ward 21 was formed and named after the psychiatric ward at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston. Its a group of producers and dancehall musicians from Kingston, Jamaica. It had four members originally namely Kunley McCarthy, Mark “Meandawg” Henry, Andre “Suku” Gray, and Ranaldo “Rumblood” Evans. King Jammy mentored them and they acted as selectors for his sound system. They signed to New York label Natural Bridge after leaving Jammy and went on to produce dancehall riddims like “Badda badda”, “Bellyas”, “Da Joint”, and “Volume” as well as hit singles like “Haters” and “Judgement Day”. In 2001, they released their first album, Mentally Disturbed. “Bada Bada” riddim had tracks by Beenie Man, Chuck Fenda, and Elephant Man. The group went on a tour through Europe in 2005 and performed in The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Romania, Italy, Switzerland, and Spain. They appeared at Europe’s biggest reggae festival, Summerjam, and later that year in 2008, Evans left the group. Some of Ward 21’s productions are the Bounty Killer/Wayne Marshall duet “When The Smoke Clears” and Capleton’s “Slew Dem.” Many singles were released mostly on King Jammy’s label and good tracks on compilations. On the reggae label Greensleeves, Ward 21 has released three albums. The band features in 311’s remix of Amber song in Supa Dups Remix. They also appear on Free the Universe, Major Lazer’s second album, on the track “Mashup the Dance.” Their fifth album, Still Disturbed, was released on 22 January 2014, where Konshens and Sean Paul appear. The group traveled to Europe several times to promote the album. The single “Mek It Bunx Up” by DeeWunn and Marcy Chin, was produced by Ward 21’s member, Kunley McCarthy, in February 2017 and received over 25 Million views on Facebook.