For any TRUE Dancehall fan, when someone says the name Yellowman you know right away who they are talking about
. For those just coming into Dancehall Reggae lets see if we can at least put on some light on who really is the King Of Dancehall!
Yellowman as we know him was born as Winston Foster on Januuary the 15th 1956 in Kingston, Jamaica. He was not raised by his parents, instead he spent his time at a few different place such as Maxfield Home, Eventinde Home and the famous Alpha Boys School (famous for many artist spent time here as well).
He started to get his start as a DJ when he won the Tastee Patties talent show around 1978. From that time he went on to perform with foundation sound system Aces International (which can be founds on DJ14K's Tapes R Us website). Then in 1981 he won the DJ title at Skateland and then moved on to Gemini Disco. Getting more popular for his slackness lyrics, he performed at Reggae Sunsplash 1982 and blew away the crowd.
What makes Yellowman a more high profile DJ then his counterparts was he was able to also be outstanding with a string of LP's he released. His first LP was "Them A Mad Over Me" for Channel One & then the next year (1982) he released Mister Yellowman for the owner of Volcano sound system Junjo Lawes & his Volcano label. He was one of the first Dancehall acts to be signed to a major label in the USA (CBS Records) and this LP also got him a Grammy nomination. Along with his sparing partner Fathead they would release more LP's & nuff singles to the likes of Dancehall fans everywhere.
Now coming into the 1980's hardship hits Yellowman as he was told he has skin cancer and because of this, parts of his jaw were removed to make sure the cancer was out. This did not stop him however from recording and performing. He continued to release more LP's & singles but this time moving a bit from the slackness and more to Roots & Culture Dancehall music.
To this day, he is non stop performing and does not let anything get in his way. Yellowman is a true performer in any music form and the Dancehall Reggae world is lucky to still have him around giving us plenty of vibes each and every time he takes the mike!