Biography

Michael “Sparkey” Drakes

Fans will tell you that he has a voice that is distinctive, raspy voice but with the qualities of a lead tenor , his voice resonates with energy which is evident on his dancehall and ragga soca tracks. Born in Guyana, South America he started singing in his church, he could be heard on any given Sunday thrilling the congregation with his heavy baritone voice.

Michael joined the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) it was here that he received the name of Sparkey. Sparkey performed with GDF and several other bands before leaving Guyana at the behest of the Tonik Band to relocate to Antigua in 1997. After the break-up of Tonik Band, Sparkey did stints with Vision 2000 where he wrote and recorded eleven of the twelve songs that appeared on the Vision 2000 album. One of the eleven songs, "Want Me Body" was written for Pat Raguette of the Virgin Islands and it became a mega hit for her when it was released. To quote her, “I have never had a song like that since”.

In 2004 as a member of the group Da Bhann, Sparkey toured with Atlantic Recording artist Kevin Lyttle, his raspy voice that can rival any dancehall singer allowed him to replace reggae artist Spragga Benz and Jamesy P on Kevin's songs. Sparkey performed at the 2005 Star Mega Jam that saw Ja Rule as the main attraction. He has performed on the same stage as Daddy Yankee and several other well know artist from the Caribbean region.

Moving on is hard, but in 2006 Sparkey and Da Bhann parted; he was convinced that this was the time to pursue a solo career. In April of 2007 his first solo CD “Sparkey & Friends Back 2 Basics", with fourteen tracks, ten soca and four reggae was released featuring Claudette Peters on “Crazy” a dancehall track and Mervyn “Sleepy” Edwards on Best Friends and Dalton Dyer on Ah De Vibes .

In October 2007 Sparkey & Friends Back 2 Basics was nominated for three awards by Toronto Exclusive Magazine and he won Best International World Male Artist and Best International World CD Album. In March 2008 Sparkey kicked off his 2008-2009 tour in support of his CD in Japan with three shows in Osaka and one in Tokyo. Sparkey is now charting his own course on the world stage with his brand of music.


AWARDS & FEATURES

2010
Featured on www.hitquarters.com , January 11, 2010 in the Exclusive Artist Diary & also as the Artist of the Week.

2009
Winner of the Best/Reggae Artist at the 2009 Underground Music Awards, NYC held at BB King’s August 2009.
Named one of the top 20 Independent Artist of 2009 by Internet Radio Magazine

2008
September 2008 signs a 3 year management deal with W.O.A. International for India & released In Your Eyes in India.
Seoul Review, Seoul Korea
Several magazines in Japan

2007
October 6, 2007 - featured in Urban Mainstream Magazine, Philadelphia
Three award nominations from Toronto Exclusive Magazine, Toronto Canada

Winner:
Best International World CD Album for Sparkey & Friends Back 2 Basics
Best International World Male Artist for Sparkey & Friends Back 2 Basics