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Born in Crafton St. Mary, Jamaica and grown in Barker, Jeffery Town district, St Mary. Mento came from a very poor family. He is third of thirteen siblings, six girls and seven boys. His mother Louise Gordon is from Saint Mary and his father Uriel Maitland (Judge) is from St. Ann. Mento migrated to the United States, Boston in 1990.
Mento from age ten was a very proficent poet and writer and performed at concerts in school. His first song before an audience was a cover of Brent Dowe’s, Rivers of Babylon done by him and other classmates he sung as a back up singer. His musical career started when he began to operate his brother Lloyd’s sound system “Thrills Seekerâ€. He, Steve Rousseau (Reggie), Emit Martin (Dog) and Fitzroy (Dasheen) became some of the most cultural Dee Jays from that section of Saint Mary. Dee Jays like U-Roy and Big Youth inspired Mento. He was a huge fan of Dee Jay Dillinger and was nick named Piza from Dillinger’s song Ragnampiza. Some of his favorite singers were Heptones, Techniques later Uniques, Wailers and Burning Spear.In 1980 Mento, Huntley Conville (Brother Huntley) and Paul Brown (Peenie) formed the group Endurance. They recorded their first two singles, Share It and Bad People at Channel One Studios, Kingston, Jamaica. Most of his involvement in the Jamaican music scene was promoting dances with sounds like Jah Love Muzic, King Sturgav and Jack Ruby Sounds just to name a few. He always contributed by making his mark as a Cultural lyricist whether singing or Dee Jay. From 1983 until 1990 Mento spent most of his time performing in the dance halls on mostly small upcoming sounds trying to make names for them selves. He was most frequent on Black Unity and Black Aquarius two sounds from Western St Mary with some of the largest Rastafarian followers. Mento from the beginning was always a culture singer.
Since around 1990 until present, Mento have been mainly working on and off in the studios. Most of his performances are done with friends on their home sets. His main sparing partners are Preecha and Saucy Dread. In around 2002 he recorded a single on a compilation produced by Preecha, Called All I Want is Your Loving. Other people featured on the album are Preecha, Lady Lee, Journalist and Daughter Ruler. He made a few appearances at places in the Boston and Cambridge areas with Boston renowned Lady Lee and with Journalist. In November 2005 He released his first Album, Vouchsafe For The Children. His main concern is for the children of the oppressed especially blacks in the Ghettos of the world. Mento says he is where he is on life’s journey and is willing to go where ever Jah leads him. His ultimate aim is to repatriate to a prosperous, peaceful Africa according to Marcus Garvey’s prophecy. Africa for the Africans Home and Abroad. Jah Live
