What is the birth name of reggae toaster U-Roy?

U-Roy's birth name was Ewart Beckford. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1942, Beckford became one of the most important pioneers of Jamaican toasting, a vocal style built around rhythmic speech, improvisation, and commentary over instrumental versions.

His stage name developed from a family pronunciation of his first name. U-Roy was strongly influenced by American rhythm-and-blues vocalists and by earlier Jamaican sound-system performers such as Count Matchuki, King Stitt, and Sir Lord Comic.

Working with producer Duke Reid, he became widely known through successful records that placed his voice over existing rocksteady rhythms. His timing, melodic phrasing, and audience-focused delivery helped establish the sound-system toaster as a central performer rather than a background announcer.

U-Roy is sometimes described as an early influence on hip-hop because his version-style performances anticipated the rhythmic vocal approaches later associated with rap and dancehall. The other options are different reggae figures: Neville Livingston was Bunny Wailer, Osbourne Ruddock was King Tubby, and Winston Rodney is Burning Spear.