Born in New York City, Prata became Mr. University of Miami while attending the college, winning the contest courtesy of his good looks and strong voice. Moving back to New York, he became a backup singer for George Lamond, a voice for hire for commercial work, and eventually a solo artist. In 2000 he released the single "Fly Away" and supported it as opening act for Salt-N-Pepa on their national tour. After recording some club tracks with C+C Music Factory associate Ricky Crespo, Prata hit pay dirt with his single "Ma Ya Hee," a duet with Dan Balan of the Latin dance group O-Zone. "Ma Ya Hee" went to number one in 27 countries and sold over eight million singles throughout the world in various languages. The dance label Ultra signed Prata in 2005 and released an English version of the song in hopes of bringing the phenomena to America. ~ David Jeffries