Island Stubs

David Constantine Brooks (born c. 1981), better known by his stage name Mavado, is a Jamaican dancehall artist. He was raised in an area known as "Cuba", a micro ghetto within the heart of Kingston, Jamaica's Cassava Piece community. The community was considered dangerous and Mavado was exposed to many different things in his youth. Mavado had two major influences in his life that made him want to pursue a career in music.

His grandmother who raised him, brought him to church with her each Sunday, and this helped to ignite his love for music. What kept the flame burning was his second influence in his music career; his idol, and current labelmate Bounty Killer.

MUSICAL CAREER
Bounty Killer and legendary Dancehall manager Julian Jones-Griffith began to take Mavado under their wing and showed him the ropes of the music business. Mavado met the Daseca Production Crew in 2004, and recorded his debut single "Real McKoy" over the Anger Management Riddim, which in turn made him a sensation in Jamaican dancehall music. His next single brought him more mainstream success, and outside of Jamaica people began to notice him. In 2006, the single "Weh dem a Do" (recorded over the Red Bull and Guinness Riddim) got major airplay worldwide on radio stations such as New York's WQHT (Hot 97). Mavado continued to pursue his musical interest despite turbulence in his personal life including the murder of his father and numerous run-ins with the authorities. His debut album Gangsta for Life: The Symphony of David Brooks, includes "Fathers Prayer", "Cassava Piece Radio", "Sadness", "Gully Side", and much more. He signed a deal with VP Records and released his debut album in July 2007. A slimmed down and remixed version of "Real McKoy" was featured in the fourth Grand Theft Auto IV trailer entitled "Everyone's a Rat". "Real McKoy" was also used in the Grand Theft Auto IV in-game radio station, Massive B Soundsystem. Recently, Jay-Z was featured on Mavado's track "I'm On The Rock" bringing his acclaim to even greater heights and his music to a wider audience. In 2008, he appeared on Terminate on Sight by G-Unit, in a song called "Let It Go". Mavado was on Digicel Rising Star with the new sensation "KHALIL" on September 21,2008.

CHARITABLE WORK
Over the course of his career, Mavado has done a number of good deeds for the less fortunate. In October of 2007 he donated two computers to the Constant Spring All Age and Charlie Smith High School.