Gyptian

Windel Edwards was born to a Seventh-day Adventist mother and a Rastafarian father and began singing in church at around age seven. His stage name derived from his habit as a young performer of tying a shirt around his head and twisting his chin hair in a style that evoked an Egyptian pharaoh.

He rose to prominence in 2005 with the single "Serious Times," which topped both local and international reggae charts and established him as a rising voice in roots-leaning, lovers-rock-inflected reggae, distinct from the harder digital dancehall dominating the charts at the time.

His biggest hit, "Hold Yuh" (also released as "Hold You"), became a global reggae crossover success in 2010, charting internationally and helping introduce Gyptian's romantic, melodic style to a wide non-Jamaican audience. Other notable songs include "Mama," "Beautiful Lady," "I Can Feel Your Pain," and "Love Against the Wall."

Gyptian has continued to record reggae and dancehall-adjacent material addressing both romantic and social themes, remaining one of the more prominent voices of 2000s-2010s roots-influenced Jamaican pop reggae.