Jah Shaka, a stalwart of British sound system culture, has died at age 69.

His son, known as Chaaka, told the Jamaica Observer that he passed away on April 12 in London but did not disclose his cause of death.

His death was covered widely in the British media, with The Guardian newspaper noting that he “was at the helm of sound system culture in London, releasing some of the scene’s most seminal records and spearheading the influential Jah Shaka Sound System, which he began operating and touring in the 1970s”.

According to the daily publication, Jah Shaka’s following went beyond the Jamaican and West Indian communities. His work was also embraced by the punk movement which emerged in London during the early 1970s.

Although he did many interviews and appeared in films, such as Babylon (1980), and revealed that he was born in Clarendon and migrated with his family to the United Kingdom during the 1950s, Jah Shaka never disclosed his given name.

The Jah Shaka ‘sound’ made its name throughout London, particularly in West Indian venues such as Phebe’s Club in Hackney and Noreik in Tottenham. This was the 1970s when black British youth were listening to ‘rebel’ music out of Jamaica by acts including Bob Marley, Burning Spear and Peter Tosh, as well as homegrown songs by dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, Aswad and Steel Pulse.

As a music producer, Jah Shaka worked with a number of roots-reggae artistes such as Max Romeo, Horace Andy, The Twinkle Brothers, and Vivian Jones.

A release from VP Recordssaid Jah Shaka “used his sound as the platform to inspire so many to listen to the message in the music in a career spanning over 50 years”.

It went on to say that he “developed a unique style of playing, with an arsenal of otherwise unobtainable dubplates plus deep, reverent roots music direct from the Jamaican source”.

Since the 90s the Jah Shaka Foundation has been assisting with a variety of projects in Accra, Ghana, which involved the donation of medical supplies, library books, and carpentry tools.

He is survived by five children.