World of Jamaican Music

Discover artists and hear songs from everyone on the site! Log in to Spotify in this browser to hear full songs. SourcesYour Voice

An illustrated map of the creators of Jamaican music and how they are connected.

Remembering Derrick Harriott (1939-2026), rocksteady singer and producer. Read his story →

Yellowman

Artist. Dancehall

Active
1979-present
Sunrise
January 15, 1956, Kingston, Jamaica
Also known as
King Yellow, Yellow

Winston Foster was dancehall's first star, and he got there from the least promising position in Jamaican society.

He was born with albinism, called dundus in Jamaica and treated as a curse, and was abandoned as an infant. He grew up at the Maxfield Children's Home, at Eventide and then at Alpha, the school whose music program produced much of the island's brass. When he first went to the studios, producers turned him away on sight. His break came on stage instead: he came second in the Tastee Talent Contest in 1978, behind Nadine Sutherland, won it the following year, and from there worked the sound systems, principally Aces International.

He made the thing he was mocked for into the act: he named himself Yellowman, dressed in yellow, and built a persona as the island's most desired man. Elizabeth Henry calls his style "much smoother than most deejay's harsh delivery," and Garnette Cadogan writes of "his singsong voice prancing upon bouncy rhythms" and a stage show of running, jumping, and "even doing pushups between songs." The records came at an extraordinary rate, mostly for Henry "Junjo" Lawes, and the Guinness Book of Records credits him with an average of five albums a year through the 1980s. Mister Yellowman (1982) established him abroad, and "Zungguzungguguzungguzeng" (1983), voiced on the Diseases riddim, became one of the most sampled records Jamaica has produced, quoted by KRS-One, Tupac, the Notorious B.I.G., Dead Prez and Black Star. In 1984 he became the first dancehall artist signed to a major American label, releasing King Yellowman on CBS.

The slackness drew the criticism it was designed to draw and he later moved toward conscious material. He was diagnosed with cancer in the 1980s; in 1986 surgeons removed part of his jaw, which permanently changed his face and his voice. He went back to work, and has toured and recorded continuously since. He holds the Order of Distinction.

Last updated November 5, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. The Rough Guide gives "b. Winston Foster, 1959, Kingston." Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 259. Wikipedia gives January 15, 1956. "Yellowman," Wikipedia, accessed October 5, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowman.
  2. The Rough Guide says that "during the period 1981-84 he was reggae's figurehead," and Bradley calls him "dancehall's first international icon." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 259; Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 506-7.
  3. The Rough Guide names "Maxfield Park and Eventide Home, as well as the more famous Alpha Boys' School." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 259. Bradley describes "a childhood spent in orphanages and as a virtual outcast." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 506.
  4. He told the Gleaner: "I used to go to the studio and people used to turn me away." Sade Gardner, "Zungguzungguguzungguzeng, the Biggest Dancehall Song in the World - Yellowman," Jamaica Gleaner, December 20, 2018, https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/entertainment/20181220/zungguzungguguzungguzeng-biggest-dancehall-song-world-yellowman.
  5. Wikipedia gives second place behind Nadine Sutherland in 1978 and the win in 1979; the Gleaner says he "gained popularity after placing second in the Tastee's Talent Contest in 1979." "Yellowman." Gardner, "Zungguzungguguzungguzeng." The Rough Guide has him building his name on Aces Disco and then moving to Gemini early in 1981. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 260.
  6. The Rough Guide says he turned his status as an albino, "just about the lowest rung in Jamaican social stratification," to his advantage with "the wit" of his "mad over me" lyrics. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 260.
  7. Elizabeth Henry, "Yellowman," Contemporary Musicians, Encyclopedia.com, accessed November 5, 2026, https://encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/yellowman. Garnette Cadogan, "King Yellowman," Stranger's Guide, accessed November 5, 2026, https://strangersguide.com/articles/king-yellowman.
  8. The Gleaner lists "a place in the Guinness Book of Records for releasing an average of five albums annually in the 1980s." Gardner, "Zungguzungguguzungguzeng."
  9. The Rough Guide dates Mister Yellowman, his first album with Lawes, to 1982, and says his Lawes releases "have been among the biggest sellers" in the Greensleeves catalogue. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 260.
  10. The Gleaner names the "Diseases" rhythm and Lawes as producer, and lists Tupac, Queen Latifah, Junior Mafia, Buju Banton and Vybz Kartel among those who have sampled the song. Gardner, "Zungguzungguguzungguzeng." Wikipedia's timeline, drawn from Wayne Marshall's "Follow Me Now: The Zigzagging Zunguzung Meme" (2007), adds KRS-One, Black Star and Dead Prez. "Yellowman."
  11. Bradley says CBS "signed their first dancehall deejay in 1984" and that King Yellowman "wasn't a huge success." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 507-8. The Rough Guide calls him "the first Jamaican deejay" signed by the US major. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 260. Wikipedia dates the signing to 1981. "Yellowman."
  12. The Rough Guide notes his social commentary even at his peak ("Operation Eradication," "Soldier Take Over"). Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 260. Wikipedia dates the turn to religious material to the 1994 album Prayer. "Yellowman."
  13. Wikipedia says skin cancer was diagnosed in 1982 and that between late 1984 and 1986 it spread to his jaw, part of which was removed. "Yellowman."
  14. Wikipedia says the award (Officer class) was announced in 2018. "Yellowman." See also Gardner, "Zungguzungguguzungguzeng."

World of Jamaican Music: the whole map