Michael Prophet

b. Michael George Haynes, 1957, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Yabby You discovered Prophet’s unusual crying vocal style and took him to Channel One to release ‘Praise You Jah Jah’. ‘Fight It To The Top’ was his first hit. He made several acclaimed roots albums with Yabby, featuring the Gladiators and mixed by Scientist or King Tubby. Island Records released Serious Reasoning in 1980 but by then Prophet had left to work with Henry ‘Junjo’ Lawes, who helped popularize him with the dancehall audience. A comment on the year’s violent elections in Jamaica, ‘Gunman’, became his biggest hit. He made two albums with Lawes and then worked with various producers, cutting tunes for Don Mais, Al Campbell, Sugar Minott, Winston ‘Niney’ Holness, Soul Syndicate, Winston Riley and the album Blood Stain for Satta Blue. He recorded for Delroy Wright’s Live & Learn label in 1986, and then left Jamaica for Miami, where he voiced Skengdon. He relocated to England in 1988, and within two years had teamed up with former Stur-Mars and Coxsone Outernational DJ, Ricky Tuffy. They achieved a number 1 reggae hit in 1990 with their debut single, ‘Your Love’, which preceded the following year’s bestselling Get Ready for Brixton label Passion. The self-produced Bull Talk was released in 1993. Prophet has released singles with various UK producers, including General Saint, Ruff Cutt and Lloydie Crucial.