Johnny P.

b. John Morgan, 20 June 1965, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Johnny P. first came to prominence as the number one DJ with Winston Riley’s Techniques sound system. Through his sound Riley introduced Johnny P. to the dancehall. One of Johnny P.’s early releases, ‘She Young And She Green’, was recorded with Riley alongside Thriller U, who with King Jammy later recorded the duo performing, ‘Stick By Me’. In 1987, Johnny P. was the first DJ to record with Steely And Clevie as producers in their own right. The release of the cautionary ‘No Free Ride’ is widely recognised as the tune that made Johnny P. a star. By 1988 the popularity of uniting singers with DJs continued unabated and Johnny P. at the time held the distinction for appearing on almost half of them. Arguably, his principal hit from this period was in combination with Cocoa Tea (‘Come Love Me’). Although regarded a ‘combination DJ’ Johnny P. had a series of solo hits that included ‘Mind You Get A Lick’, ‘Yu Breath A Badda Me’, ‘Every Posse Follow Me’, ‘Expensive And Dear’, ‘Wet Liner’, ‘I Love The Father’, ‘Face Out, Dollars Out’, ‘Man Idiot’, ‘One Ton Of Fluff’ and ‘Natty Dread Checking’. Notable combinations included, with Scotty (‘Old Fire Stick’ and ‘Send Me The Pillow’), with Michael Palmer (‘Everyone Makes Love’) and with Gregory Isaacs (‘Wey You Get Inna’). Having flooded the market, by the early 90s Johnny P.’s prolific run came to an end, although he re-surfaced in 1993 with the ragga classic, ‘A Gal Grudge You’. His output became sporadic, although in 1995 he embarked on sessions with Junior Reid who produced ‘Babylon’s Burning’. Other 90s hits included the favoured ‘Trust In God’, the multi-combination hit ‘Matey Anthem’, the anti gun song ‘Almshouse’, and the dancehall hit ‘Wave Your Rag’.