Reggae Deejay Trinity, Of ‘Three Piece Suit’ Fame, Dead At 67

Reggae deejay and producer Wade Brammer, better known as Trinity, has died.

The singer, who also used the name Junior Brammer, succumbed to complications surrounding a diabetic condition at the National Chest Hospital in St. Andrew, Jamaica this morning after he had been hospitalized for over a week.  He was 67.

Trinity’s song Three Piece Suit was considered by many to be the first hit Dancehall tune in 1977 when it led the way for the era of music that was to come.

Rodguel ‘Blackbeard’ Sinclair, one of most famed 70s dub reggae music producers and Trinity’s friend for over 50 years, confirmed his death.

“I spoke to Trinity last week Friday and he sounded good even though he was in the hospital,” Blackbeard told DancehallMag. “Yesterday, mi and his sister were here at my home and her phone ring and the doctor said, ‘Ms. Brammer, it’s your brother’, and she said ‘doc, Oh God, him dead?”. The doctor then said, ‘no, him no dead, but during the night, him tek down and have to go intensive care’. She asked what she can do and the doctor said ‘yu can pray? Cause him weak weak’. From the doctor said  that, mi give up same time. Then this morning, Roy Francis call me, and told me ‘Trinity drop out'”

Trinity’s long-time partner had reportedly died March 9, 2019. “From she died, he wasn’t the same person,” Blackbeard said.

Blackbeard said Trinity had made a great contribution to the Reggae industry. “He was known for Three Piece Suit, the biggest set of hits he did was for Joe Gibbs, and he had a big hit with Judgment Time. He had an excellent contribution, he played his part,” Blackbeard told DancehallMag.

In Three Piece Suit, Trinity toasted over a new version of Alton Ellis’s I’m Still In Love With You riddim, with a lyric that anticipated the move from ‘cultural’ lyrics to more material/carnal concerns of the Dancehall era.

In September 2019, Reggaeville‘s Angus Taylor interviewed Trinity after his performance with the Uppercut Band at the One Love Festival in Kent, UK.

Asked about Three Piece Suit being called the first Dancehall tune, Trinity replied, “Well yeah, it was, I mean it was famous and yet it came from the dancehall.”

“So I wouldn’t say it was the first dancehall tune because you have a lot of tunes before mine but I understand what they are trying to say,” he continued.  “Because it went international and people versioned it over. It’s the first deejay song the people versioned. You understand?”

“A lot of deejay songs are out there but people didn’t do over back a deejay song. My song was the only song who they did it over and it went into the British charts. So that’s why they say that. ”

Three Piece Suit prompted an answer record from Althea & Donna using the same riddim, in the form of the UK-chart topping Uptown Top Ranking. Trinity recorded Slim Thing in response, but failed to match Althea & Donna’s success.

Born Wade Brammer on February 10, 1954, Trinity was educated at the Alpha Boys School. After initially working under the name Prince Glen, he began working under the stage name Trinity, taken from the Spaghetti Western character. After working as a deejay on several Kingston sound systems, he made his debut recording in March 1976 with “Set Up Yourself” for producer Joseph Hoo Kim.

Late in 1976, he joined up with Dillinger for the Crank Face single, and the Clash album, produced by UK-based producer Clement Bushay. 1977 saw the deejay in great demand, recording more than 20 singles for a variety of producers, including Winston Riley, Tommy Cowan, Joe Gibbs, and Yabby You.

In 1978, Trinity also performed at the One Love Peace Concert in Kingston. In the later 1970s, Trinity began producing both himself and other artists, starting his own Flag Man label. In 1979, he recorded the duet Funny Feeling with Dennis Brown, and joined up with Barrington Levy for Lose Respect and I Need a Girl in 1979 and 1980 respectively.

Blackbeard produced Trinity’s last album, Trinity & Friends which was released in 2020 and featured Barrington Levy, Black Uhuru, Ken Boothe, Barry Brown, Johnny Clarke and Erroll Dunkley.

In December 2020, Trinity dropped a video for the single Rock Inna Dancehall, on Irie Ites’ Cuss Cuss Riddim.