 Born in Portland, Jamaica, in his early days Sporty rose to become a studio sideman under Clement Dodd's tutelage at Studio One, and recorded for Dodd as a deejay as well as deejaying on Dodd's sound system.In 1965 he released the track "El Cid", credited to King Sporty and Justin Yap.In the early 1970s he moved to Miami, Florida and began producing music there under his Tashamba and Konduko labels.