Coxsone Dodd (b. Clement Seymour, Kingston, Jamaica, 26th of January, 1932) first started playing records to the customers of his parents shop. As a youth he was a talented cricketer - that his friends at school compared him to Alec Coxon, a member of the Yorkshire County Cricket Club team in the 40's - thus giving him the nickname Coxsone.

During a visit of the South of the United States he became familiar with the RnB music that was popular at the time. Coxsone set up his Downbeat Sound System in 1954 - the sound being built on an amplifier, a turntable and some records he had imported from the Miami and New Orleans. The Sound System was such a success that Coxsone would continue to make triped to the States for new music to play on his sound. Dodd opened five different sound systems (each running every night) and to run them he sought the help of people like Lee Perry, U-Roy and Prince Buster.

Coxsone started recording his own music in the late 50's. He founded the record company World Disc in '59. In 1963 he opened Studio One in Brentford Road, Kingston. It was the first black-owned studio in Jamaica.

During the 90's he worked out a contract with Soul Jazz Records that started reissuing large parts of its catalogue with large success.

Coxsone was running the Studio One label until he passed on in 2004, May 5th. Brentford Road had been renamed to Studio One Boulevards just a few days earlier (May 1st) in a ceremony that paid tribute to him as a producer. Coxsone passed away from a heart attack.

Dodd was posthumously awarded the Order of Distinction, in the rank of Commander on October 15, 2007, for service to the Jamaica music industry.1

Coxsone was posthumously awarded the Order of Distinction, in the rank of Commander October 15th, 2007, for his service to the Jamaican music industry.