Yellowman

Few reggae singers live up to their stage name quite like Yellowman, the dancehall pioneer who, thanks to a skin condition, wears a faint yellow hue. Instead of downplaying his condition, he embraced it, singing about his status as the outsider and creating a legacy around itby the mid-’80s, he was even considered a Jamaican sex symbol. Yellowman’s nimble flow and lewd toasts also made him a major inspiration in hip-hop circles. After a nearly fatal bout with skin cancer, though, Yellowman softened the raunchy, often controversial lyrics that made him a dance-floor staple to focus on the more spiritual, positive-minded dancehall that peers like Buju Banton also began favoring as the ’90s progressed.