Congo Natty

@congo-natty · London

Mikail Tafari aka Congo Natty aka Conquering Lion aka X Project aka Rebel MC has lived a fascinating life but, he says, his story isn't really his story, it isn't about him. “It’s the journey of my ancestors – the journey of the children of slaves.” Mikail, then just plain Michael West, grew up in Tottenham. His father came from Kingston, Jamaica, his mother from Wales. He didn't even know that this was unusual until he started at school and someone commented that his mother was white. Looking back, before that he didn't really know what race was or was meant to represent. Music was an ever-present, not just from his parents, but all around him. He first DJed at a party aged ten, when the DJ got “lean up” and he had to take over. He got a pound for his troubles and felt puffed up with the praise. The local youth club, Trojan, invited soundsystems in every Friday for a dance and every Friday he was there. Before he was twenty he and some friends started their own soundsystem, Beat Freak, playing hip hop, reggae and the house records that were just starting to penetrate the streets of London from Chicago and New York. Love of music ran alongside a need to take care of business and a healthy disrespect for the law. “We didn’t have anywhere to play so we had to break into places, then set up a dance and charge at the door.” Playing out with the sound led Rebel to record. He had a crazy mix he did with a beat and the Eastenders theme tune, so he found a studio where he