Charly Black

Charly Black is a Jamaican dancehall artist born Desmond Mendez, known for helping popularize dancehall's «wine and go down» style internationally in the mid-2010s. He first emerged as a soundclash-era deejay in Jamaica in the early 2000s, building a reputation on the local sound system circuit before crossing into mainstream success.

His 2015 single «Gyal You a Party Animal» became a global viral hit, spreading through Latin America, Europe and social media dance challenges, and remains his signature track. The song's slow-tempo, bass-heavy groove exemplified a wave of dancehall records that found unexpected crossover appeal outside the Caribbean, aided by remixes featuring Latin urban artists.

His catalog blends dancehall with pop and R&B textures, often built around simple, hook-driven melodies aimed at the dancefloor. Tracks like «Whine & Kotch», «Party Animal» and «Indian Girl» continued this template, cementing him as one of the more internationally recognized dancehall voices of his generation, even as his commercial peak in Western markets has remained tied largely to the «Gyal You a Party Animal» wave.