Charly Black

Charly Black, born Desmond Méndez on April 6, 1980, in Rio Bueno, Trelawny Parish, Jamaica, began entering singing competitions at age five and performed early on under the name 'Tony Mentol' before adopting his current stage name. He made his recorded debut in 2004 with "Woman It's You," and released the well-received "Whine & Kotch," featuring J Capri, on Head Concussion Records in 2012.

His defining hit came in 2014 with "Gyal You a Party Animal" (originally titled simply "Party Animal"), built on Kurt Riley's Jambe-An riddim. The track's slightly accelerated tempo aligned it rhythmically with soca, cumbia, and reggaeton as much as traditional dancehall, and it spread rapidly across Latin America and Spain, becoming one of the most-viewed dancehall videos on YouTube, with over 238 million views recorded by 2022. In 2016 the song was licensed worldwide by Allezgo Productions and by Casablanca Records for the US market.

Charly Black went on to record with Latin artists including Jencarlos Canela ("Pa Que Me Invitan") and Gloria Trevi ("Me Lloras"), and released additional dancehall singles such as "Girlfriend," "Bike Back," and "Hoist & Wine." His recorded output includes the compilations Multi-Talented (2013) and Rio Bueno (2021), and the studio album No Excuses (2023).