Winston Sparkes (17 September 1940 – 31 January 2012), better known as King Stitt, was a Jamaican pioneer DJ.
He earned the nickname as a boy because of his stuttering and decided to use it as his stage name. Stitt began deejaying on Clement Dodd's Sir Coxsone's Downbeat Sound System in 1956.
Count Machuki, the original Jamaican deejay, noticed him for his dancing and offered him to try his hand on the mic. Stitt soon built his own deejay set, occasionally replacing him and eventually becoming one of the most popular deejays on the island's dances. He became King Stitt when he was crowned "king of the deejays" in 1963, in the heyday of ska.
Following the folding of Sir Coxsone's Downbeat's sound system around 1968 (as Coxsone preferred to concentrate on recordings), Stitt found himself working as a mason in Ocho Rios. He had been deejaying at the mic for over ten years when he was first recorded over brand new reggae rhythms in 1969, creating some of the first deejay records ever.
Fatshe leso lea halalela [The land of our ancestors is holy]
Fatshe leso lea halalela
Shadowland
The leaves have fallen
This shadowed land
This was our home
The river's dry
The ground has broken
So I must go
Now I must go
And where the journey may lead me
Let your prayers be my guide
I cannot stay here, my family
But I'll remember my pride
Prideland I have no choice
My land I will find my way
Tear-stained Lea halalela
Dry land
Take this Take this prayer
With you What lies out there
Fatshe leso Lea halalela
And where the journey may lead you
Let this prayer be your guide
Though it may take you so far away
Always remember your pride
Fatshe leso lea halalela
Fatshe leso lea halalela Fatshe leso lea halalela
And where the journey may lead you
Let this prayer be your guide
Though it may take you so far away
Always remember your pride
And where the journey may lead you Giza buyabo, giza buyabo
Let this prayer be your guide I will return, I will return
Beso bo
Though it may take you so far away Giza buyabo, I will return
Always remember your pride Giza buyabo, oh giza buyabo