Sutherland was born in Kingston, Jamaica and raised in Above Rocks in Saint Catherine Parish. She began performing in 1979, winning the Tastee Talent Contest that year (beating Paul Blake and Yellowman), with her parents managing her career while she studied at St Andrew High School.[2][3] She combined her musical career with studies in business administration, and was the first artist signed by Bob Marley to his Tuff Gong label, recording "Starvation on the Land" while aged eleven.