Mortimer Softley was born in Georgetown, Guyana. He moved to Jamaica in 1995 to pursue his dream of being a reggae singer.[1] In Guyana he hailed from Linden in the community of All Boy Town and was nicknamed Black and White because of his love for dressing in that colour code. In Jamaica the musicians he hung around would rename him Natural Black. On his arrival into the island he worked as a welder and coffee picker while recording in his spare time for various producers. He made the rounds voicing for the likes of Anthony Red Rose, Gordon Lee, Jack Scorpio, Freddie McGregor and Beres Hammond. Some producers released material and others didn't but of the singles that came out all suffered for lack of promotion. His fortunes however began to change when in 2000 he met Roger Grant, a young producer just starting his label Organic Records. This association resulted in two singles, "With Feeling" and "Bad Mind" which captured the audiences attention and brought him his first taste of success. Both songs charted followed by In The Streetz' "Never Leave You Lonely" which peaked at number three on the Star charts