Mikey General
Artist. Dancehall, roots, reggae
- Active
- 1980s-present
- Sunrise
- October 9, 1963, London, England
- Also known as
- Michael Taylor, Qabalah
Mikey General (Michael Taylor) is a high-tenor singer who made his name in the London dancehall of the 1980s and then, back in Jamaica, became one of Fatis Burrell's cultural singers alongside his friend Luciano.
Born in Britain, he grew up in Jamaica from the age of two, sang in school and church choirs, and as a teenager voiced on Kingston sounds such as Killamanjaro and Virgo. Back in Britain in 1982, he sang on Sir Coxsone and Saxon, touring Europe with the Saxon posse. The Rough Guide counts him among the original British talents of the early 1980s dancehall phase, and he first came to notice with a series of strong dancehall tunes for London's Fashion Records.
After some ten years in England he moved back to Jamaica, where he met Luciano. With Burrell he made Sinners (1994), which, the Rough Guide says, fully confirmed the faith London had shown in him, and Watch Over Me; Bradley names him with Sizzla, Ras Shiloh and Luciano as the cultural artists through whom Burrell brought Rasta ideas to the dancehall. He and Luciano stayed with Burrell until the end of 1998, then freelanced and formed their own Qabalah label, though both went on recording for other producers.
Last updated October 7, 2026
Connections
- The Firehouse Crew (backing group)
- Fatis Burrell (producer)
- Mafia & Fluxy (producer)
- Luciano (collaborator)
- Sizzla (toured with)
Notes
- Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 362.
- "Biography: Mikey General," Reggaeville, accessed October 7, 2026, https://www.reggaeville.com/artist-details/mikey-general/about/.
- Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 362, 383, 406.
- "Biography: Mikey General."
- Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 363; Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 532. "Mikey General: Sinners," Discogs, accessed October 7, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/master/894373.
- Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 362, 364-65.
