Mr. Evil

Originally known as Dr. Evil, Craig "Leftside" Parks is the man behind dancehall's Mr. Evil, the jovial character who sounds a lot like Austin Powers' arch nemesis. Born and raised in St. Andrews, Jamaica, Craig is the son of Lloyd Parks, a member of the We the People band. With the group, his father backed everyone from Dennis Brown to Prince Far I. Craig used to play along as his father's band practiced, banging on an empty box turned upside down, and he became familiar enough with the recording studio to leap into a career as a producer when he became an adult. While working with Renaissance Disco and watching an Austin Powers movie on the studio's television, the younger Parks was inspired to do a Dr. Evil impression, one that would have the whole studio in stitches. A dubplate he cut doing his Dr. Evil character would be played at Bounty Killer's birthday party, setting off a chain of events that would go from dubplates to official singles. After cutting the minor hit "No STD" over the Ice Cube riddim in 2005, Dr. Evil struck gold in 2006 with the furious and hilarious hit "More Punanny." A string of singles including "Social Commentary" and "We a Gangsta," plus the crossover soca cut "Wine It," brought Parks to 2008 and the hit "Back It Up" with dancehall superstar Sean Paul. The single was a teaser for his debut album, scheduled to be released on the Sequence label that same year. ~ David Jeffries