SOUTH FLORIDA – It’s the summer of 1994, and a hot ‘riddim’ called the Pepperseed is rocking dancehalls from Kingston, Jamaica to Brixton, England. One of the songs that drove it to success was Loving Excess by singer Wayne Wonder featuring an unknown toaster named Don Yute.
Although he has recorded many other songs, fans still identify Don Yute with Loving Excess. With Anytime, his latest song, the veteran deejay teams with Styleon, an American of Bahamian heritage.
After three decades as a recording artist, Don Yute says being relevant is just as important as making the charts.
Don Yute
“My approach to making music is making sure that the content in my sound is always relatable to all audiences, and I’m always making sure that I am different and keeping that classic sound that please my fans for nearly 30 years,” Don Yute told South Florida Caribbean News. “It’s always like a science in certain aspects, so the flow of the music has got to be in a way that people can dance, they can drive and listen to it or be in the clubs and listening to it. A lot of stuff out there has the same feel, same beat, like a template, and I really don’t make template music.”
Released in November, Anytime is produced by his Golden Child Productions. To accompany him, Don Yute preferred to work with an upcoming artist, and the Miami-born Styleon fit that bill.
He was in a similar position 31 years ago when the established Wayne Wonder recruited him for Loving Excess, a song on emerging producer Dave Kelly’s uptempo beat called the Pepperseed.
Don Yute did not share the same background as most dancehall acts. He is from a middle-class family and attended the same school with Sean Paul, his protege.
Over the years, he has recorded songs for top producers such as Steely and Clevie and Bobby Digital. Most of his recent work is done for Golden Child Productions, the name of one of his songs.
