Conquering Lion aka Congo Natty aka Rebel MC is the stage name of Jungle producer and Toaster Michael West. "Conquering Lion" is short for "the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah," one of emperor's Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia many titles. In the early 1980s, West formed the group Double Trouble with the now deceased Michael Menson, Karl Brown (more commonly known as the UK garage DJ Karl 'Tuff Enuff' Brown) and Leigh Guest; and released the single "Just Keep Rockin" on the Desire record label in 1989 as Double Trouble and Rebel MC. The single was a UK Top 20 hit, and the follow up "Street Tuff"(1990) was his biggest success, reaching #3 in the UK charts. Because of the style and content of these releases, West was often dismissed by a British hip hop community, distrustful of pop success and "selling out". The release of his first album Rebel Music (Desire, 1990) did little to change their views. This was soon to change, however, as West used to money he had made from his pop successes to record his second album. Black Meaning Good (Desire, 1991) was a complete change of style for West, mixing his former pop-rap influences with reggae, hip hop, dance and the emerging jungle styles to produce an album that was uniquely his own. The album won over the Rebel MC's detractors, and is now widely regarded as a classic of the era. One of Jungle's unsung heroes, Michael West began his career as Rebel MC with Brit rappers Double Trouble and the bubblegum pop hit "Street Tuff ...
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