Gullymon

Umi-Marcus Elijah Powell “Up top I’m known as Life, In the Caribbean I’m known as Bigga, over seas in West Africa I’m known as Obolo, but in Edenton, North Carolina, I’m known as Umi.....” Umi-Marcus Elijah Powell was born on November 10th, 1987 in Miami, FL. Shortly after his birth his family moved to their new home in Edenton, North Carolina. Marcus grew up in a very musical household. His father was a musician in Jamaica and was friends with Reggae stars such as Bob Marley, Peter Tos...

Umi-Marcus Elijah Powell “Up top I’m known as Life, In the Caribbean I’m known as Bigga, over seas in West Africa I’m known as Obolo, but in Edenton, North Carolina, I’m known as Umi.....” Umi-Marcus Elijah Powell was born on November 10th, 1987 in Miami, FL. Shortly after his birth his family moved to their new home in Edenton, North Carolina. Marcus grew up in a very musical household. His father was a musician in Jamaica and was friends with Reggae stars such as Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. Music was always played in his home, everything from Rap, R&B, (Roots) Reggae, and Rock. It wasn’t until hearing his older brothers rapping and performing did Marcus begin writing his own songs. When Marcus was 9 years old his brother Keiwanee recorded with the rap group Lost Boyz and became good friends with the group. On his summer vacation of 1996 he was able to experience recording in a state of the art recording studio while on vacation in New York City. This experience further encouraged Marcus to continue writing and performing any chance he got. These early experience prepared him for winning on-air freestyle battles, while attending preparatory school in Ghana, West Africa where he lived for 2 ½ years. When he returned to the United States he continued to write and record music that was widely heard around Eastern North Carolina. As his popularity grew, in 2004 at the age of 17 he was invited to perform as an opening act for Juelz Santana, Jim Jones and T.I. He has also shared the stage with Mr. Cheeks of Lost Boys during his numerous performances in North Carolina. Recently Marcus have added to his growing catalog of music by recording music inspired by recordings of Michael Jackson’s Dirty Diana, Sri Lankan artist M.I.A Paper Planes and the production work his long time friend John McCall (J-Mac). Marcus music tells a story of a young man growing and overcoming adversities from his older brother’s untimely death to his own fight with cancer in 2005. Whatever name you choose to call him Bigga, Obolo, Mark-Dawg or simply Umi, his legendary talent is hard to knock. .