Mista Vybe

Taking the term “multi-talented” to new heights, Mista Vybe is not your average musician. This Versatile Young Black Entertainer (thus the acronym V.Y.B.E.) certainly lives up to his chosen title. In addition to writing all his own material, as well as arranging and producing in some cases, Mista Vybe effortlessly switches between sweet-voiced R&B singing, Hip Hop rapping, “chatting” in Dancehall/Reggae fashion, “freestyling” lyrics spontaneously, dazzling with energetic live stage performances, and even singing his own background vocals. Vybe is a well-known solo star in his homeland, and over the years he has had a hand in writing countless hits (for himself and other artists), performed on numerous local and regional hits, topped the Pop charts in the all French-speaking Caribbean islands, scored a major underground hit in France and recorded with legendary 90's “super-producer” Teddy Riley, among other industry “big names”.

Currently hard at work crafting what he touts as his "new sound for a new age", Mista Vybe has been hard at work on his long overdue debut solo album for quite some time and hopes to have the as-yet-untitled compilation out by summer 2011. Having fallen in love with the mxtape genre thanks to a stellar experience working on his well-received collaboration ("Soca Certified Smash") with Toronto-based DJ (and good friend) Jester, Mista Vybe also hints that he will definitely be utilizing this medium in the near future, leading up to his album's release. He cautions, however, that his upcoming mixtape offerings will be "not just Soca stuff... so much more than that". Given his chameleon-like ability to shift vocal styles and lyrical approaches from genre to genre almost effortlessly, Vybe's proposed walk down the mixtape path looks set to be an interesting journey indeed. In the meantime, fans and well-wishers can keep up with his exploited on his all-encompassing website, MistaVybeWorld.com - where everything that is Mista Vybe can be found.

Born Patrick Gordon in the capital city of Port-of-Spain on the island of Trinidad, Mista Vybe grew up as an only child in the quiet, middle-class district of Trincity. He started studying piano and classical voice at age six and went on to add the trumpet, steel drum and percussion to his repertoire in a few short years. In high school he played with his school’s marching band, was a featured soloist with various classical, folk and church choirs, sang and acted in various youth concerts, free-styled with classmates in his own Rap group and even fronted a Pop cover band.

Mista Vybe learned much of his studio skills as a teenager, honing his chops by working on countless demos at the state of the art, multi-million dollar Caribbean Sound Basin studio complex in Trinidad with his writing/production partner at the time: local producer/programmer Sheldon “Shel-Shok” Benjamin. There, the duo was privileged to sit in on recording sessions for past and present industry giants like Raphael Saadiq, Guy, Hip-Hop producer Ali Shaheed Mohammed (of A Tribe Called Quest) and Bad Boy Entertainment’s notorious Hit Men production team, including Stevie J, Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, and music mogul Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, among others.

He got his first “big break” as the lead vocalist of the now defunct group Blak Mayl. The fledgling island-style boy band was signed to the French arm of major label EMI in 1994 after dazzling executives with their raucous live performances and unique sound at that year’s MIDEM conference in Cannes, France. Their unreleased debut album featured tracks penned almost entirely by Mista Vybe and even included a song written and produced by legendary hit-maker Teddy Riley and featuring Riley's Grammy Award-winning group BlackStreet, on which Mista Vybe had the honour of singing lead.

Following squabbles between the group's production company and the major label that signed them, the album was never released by the EMI, but an undaunted Vybe continued to pursue his career as a solo artist, writer, arranger, producer and background vocalist while accumulating extensive performing and studio experience. In 1999 and 2000, he fronted popular Soca band Atlantik, which played at some of the biggest shows during Trinidad’s Carnival celebrations, often performing for audiences over 40,000 strong.

Undoubtedly, one of his solo career’s high points was the smash single “Joe Le Taxi”. Originally taken to Number One on the French Pop charts by Vanessa Paradis back in the 1980’s, the song found new life as a charming Pop/Hip-Hop/Reggae duet, featuring Mista Vybe chanting in his unique Dancehall-influenced styles alongside Trinidadian teen singing star (and longtime family friend), Sharlene Boodram. Distributed in the French-Caribbean by the Martinique-based Don’s Music label, the single became an anthem in that region, reigning at Number One in Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guyana, among other countries, for the entire summer of