LMS

Laza, Shy-Poo, and Miriam serve as the vocal contingent among the twenty-nine children of Denroy Morgan, the roots rock veteran who established the reggae ensemble Morgan Heritage. Music became the dominant occupation for most of those offspring, who continued the path their father had carved. Following appearances alongside their elder siblings in Morgan Heritage during the 1990s, Laza and Shy-Poo departed to form the duo the Dredz and secured a contract with MCA. A subsequent disagreement with the company prompted the addition of their younger sister Miriam, after which the trio adopted the name LMS. Their output merged the Morgan lineage with a youthful, boundary-crossing sensibility that incorporated contemporary rap and R&B elements within a reggae and dancehall framework. Although born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, the siblings were guided by Rastafarian principles, resulting in work that mirrors this dual cultural foundation. Within LMS, Laza handled the DJ duties, drawing from hip-hop figures such as Rakim, LL Cool J, and Run-DMC as well as early-1990s hardcore dancehall artists including Super Cat and Buju Banton. Shy-Poo and Miriam managed the vocal parts, taking cues from R&B performers like Michael Jackson, Al Green, and Whitney Houston alongside gospel artists such as Bebe & CeCe Winans and Kirk Franklin. The group issued its debut album, Reality Check, in 1999, followed by the 2001 release Zion's Gates and Straight from Da Root in 2003. These Rasta-oriented projects consistently featured production from reggae figures Donovan Germain, Phillip "Fatis" Burrell, and Denroy Morgan himself.