Laurel Aitken: The Fantastic Laurel Aitken While Desmond is the King of Ska, Laurel Aitken is the Godfather. In the late ‘50s, the Cuban native worked with Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, and released a number of singles in England in the ‘60s, leading to a rise in popularity of the genre there. He was so prolific that it’s difficult to really find a vinyl record that encapsulates his career, but The Fantastic Lauren Aitken, a reissue of a 1970 rarity, helps illustrate the beauty in his voice, his tenderness and sometimes vulgar lust, and how he helped ska and reggae move forward, especially with his popularity in Britain and influence on the 2 Tone movement.