Yabby You was born Vivian Jackson in Kingston, Jamaica on August 14th, 1946. He evolved to become a prominent reggae vocalist and producer who was especially well-known for his uncompromising work that was often laced with spiritual themes.

Jackson had a particularly hard life while growing up as he was one of seven children and was forced to begin manual labour at an early age. At 12, he left home and began working at a furnace near Waterhouse. This strain on his still developing body, left him severely malnourished and he had to be hospitalized at 17. While he was lucky to survive, the malnutrition left him with severe arthritis which left him partially crippled from the legs down. This meant that he could no longer return to his previous type of work, and he was left to hustle on the streets of Kingston.

It was while on the streets that he realised he wanted to record music and so he headed to a recording studio. Jackson was dealt another hard hand as another hospital visit left him with little money to pay for studio time, but he held on to the dream and his first song "Conquering Lion" was released in 1972. The song's introduction which chanted "Be-you, yabby-yabby-you" earned him the name Yabby You and it stuck with him for the duration of his career. Within the following months, Jackson recorded several more singles, released under various record labels. This resulted in the release of the Conquering Lion album which was a King Tubby mixed dub set.

The success of his album and his solidification as a roots artist allowed Jackson to branch out as a producer, eventually working with artists such as Wayne Wade, Michael Rose, Trinity, Dillinger, Tapper Zuke and Big Prophet. All the while, Jackson continued to release his own material.

Jackson continued to record, produce and perform through the 80's and 90's, releasing his final album in 2000 which was a singles remix project with Glen Brown.

Yabby You passed away on January 2010, at the age of 63.