When reggae great, Freddie McGregor speaks, people listen because they know he is telling the truth. So when the legend says that Frankie Paul along with Sugar Minott were the masters of dancehall, it drives home the magnitude of Jamaica’s loss with the recent passing of Frankie Paul.

“Frankie was just one of the best singers that Jamaica produced. At a point in time he didn’t live in Jamaica, so the people didn’t get to see him much, but I usually ran into him while we were on tour,” Freddie McGregor told 18 Karat Reggae.

“I knew he was ill, but didn’t know how serious it was until he lost his leg. It is a great loss for the music when someone like Frankie passes away. Him did ‘tough’, man. He and the late Sugar Minott were the dancehall masters. They were two of the first persons to start singing on tracks. That is what we call dub plates nowadays,” said McGregor.

“Frankie wasn’t any ordinary singer, he was great… He had vision issues, so he wasn’t one to jump up and down on stage. He reminded me of Stevie Wonder as he would just stay one place, bob his head, and belted out lyrics. I always believe that the singers who are blind were given a sort of additional talent as it relates to their craft. Their voices are just flawless,” he added.

Frankie Paul passed away at the University Hospital of the West Indies on the Mona campus in St Andrew last week, from renal failure. He was 51 and left behind a slew of hit songs such as Sarah, Cassanova, Worries In The Dance, and I Know The Score.