Matthew McAnuff was assassinated on Wednesday 22 August in Montego Bay, Jamaica. He was twenty-five.
His brother Kush McAnuff (drummer and singer with the group Uprising Roots) told the Jamaican Observer that a group of four or five men had confronted him, accusing him of being a policeman. He is said to have suffered several serious stab wounds; rushed to hospital, he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.
The son of Winston McAnuff, Matthew McAnuff burst onto the reggae scene in 2008 with a track that now seems sadly prophetic: Be Careful, produced by Earl Chinna Smith (and released on Makasound's "Inna De Yard" compilations).
He was also heard with Tom Fire on Brainwash, and with the Own Mission label on the Sun riddim, the Time riddim and, more recently, on the track If you want war. A promising future was opening up before him.
We offer our sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.