KING KONG
Reggae, Dancehall Legend (JM)
- available on demand for band and sound system shows
+ european tour in summer 2025 -
Dennis Anthony Thomas, better known as King Kong, is a Jamaican deejay/singer best known for
his work in the 1980s. Born in Kingston, Thomas first recorded as a deejay at Tuff Gong studios in
1982, initially working under the name Junior Kong, named after his father.
His debut single was “Pink Eye”. His first album release was split with another of Tubby’s singers,
Anthony Red Rose, with Two Big Bull Inna One Pen issued on Firehouse. During 1986 and 1987,
Kong recorded for several of Jamaica’s top producers, including Prince Jammy, with whom he
enjoyed his biggest hits with “Trouble Again” (the title track from his Jammy-produced debut
album proper) and “Legal We Legal”, Black Scorpio, Harry J, Errol Thompson, Ossie Hibbert,
Bunny Lee, and Prince Jazzbo.
While many of his songs were typical in content of the era, several of his songs had political and
cultural themes. He released several albums during this period before relocating first to New York,
and then to Canada in the late 1980s, where he released material occasionally on his Conscious
Music label.
The death of Tenor Saw in 1988 prompted King Kong to release “He Was a Friend” as a tribute, and
in 1989 he relocated to England and recorded with Mafia & Fluxy and Gussie P in the early 1990s.
He began recording more regularly again in the 2000s.