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Bob Marley, Jay-Z, The Beastie Boys, your favorite rapper’s favorite rocker, reggae or dub artist have all referenced or were influenced by the father of dub and reggae, Lee “Scratch” Perry.  

Words, descriptors, phrases, compliments, criticisms, praise, condemnation, outrage, disgust: there aren’t enough of these to accurately describe the man, the legend, the enigma that is Lee “Scratch” Perry. So here he is in his own words via Vinyl-Record-Collectors.net. Take it away, Lee!

“I’m an artist, a musician, a magician, a writer, a singer; I’m everything. My name is Lee Perry from the African jungle, I am originally from West Africa. I’m a man from somewhere else, but my origin is from Africa, straight to Jamaica through reincarnation; reborn in Jamaica. Superman comes to earth ‘cause him sick and tired; I’m not sick and tired because I’m learning what goes on, so when we get frustrated, that is when the music come down by rain drops to support all here with a broken heart and don’t know what to do.

When I left school there was nothing to do except field work. Hard, hard labour. I didn’t fancy that. So I started playing dominoes. Through dominoes I learned to read the minds of others. This has proved eternally useful to me…. Those who love Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry music shall live forever, and those who fight against Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry shall die forever in Doomsville. it was only four tracks on the machine, but I was picking up twenty from the African Heritage squad.

I have been programmed; many people who born again must come back to learn a lesson…have you heard of ET? I am ET, savvy? Savvy?  I felt nothing. Nothing at all. You see, before he died, I had had a message from Jah and I went to Bob’s Tuff Gong Studio to tell it to him. But at that time he was making the big money and he had no time to talk to Scratch. I went to tell him that he was going to die but he said that if Jah had a message for him, he would deliver it direct.”

More Perry after the break!

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Lee “Scratch” Perry was born Rainford Hugh Perry on March 20, 1936 in Kendal, Jamaica and is the founder, creator and originator of dub and reggae. One of his many, many, best known songs is “Chase The Devil,” last sampled as “Lucifier” by Jay-Z on his “Black” album. 

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“I never liked to work because I don’t want no one to be a slave. I want to be worked in my mind. Every thing that’s going on, there’s some big spirit behind me who send me to do the thing that I must do.” — Lee “Scratch” Perry (Barrow, Katz, and Wyatt 5). 

In issue two of the Beastie Boy’s published and now defunct Grand Royale magazine, Lee Scratch Perry is interviewed, reviewed and deconstructed. This rare gem may be found on eBay or in a hipster’s basement. Either way, it’s worth looking for.

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“I’m a miracle man, things happen which I don’t plan, I’ve never planned anything. Whatsoever I do, I want it to be an instant action object, instant reaction subject. Instant input, instant output.” — Scratch (Davis and Simon 134)

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“When the stones clash, I hear like the thunder clash, and I hear lightning flash, and I hear words, and I don’t know where the words where them coming from. These words send me to Kingston.” (Barrow, Katz, and Wyatt 6) 

“I woke up that morning with turmoil in my heart, and went to the studio. I love kids’ rubber balls – they are air-trapped. I had one favorite from America on the mixing desk. Someone had taken it when I got to the studio, so I destroyed the studio. Burnt it down. Over” (O’Hagan T12).

Above: The legendary Black Ark Studio that also served as Perry’s home in Jamaica. Incredible records were made here and after it burnt to the ground in 1978, Perry would never be the same.

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“In America and England, Bob (Marley) heard the funny sound that I had. He come back to Jamaica and say ‘Scratch, you have a sound, and honestly I really want to work with you’. I say, ‘I don’t really want to work with no singer at the moment’, because I was just making instrumental. …When I look I see that someone really sent him, because he need help somewhere. I say ‘let me hear the songs you have to sing,’ he start to sing this ‘My cup is overflowing, I don’t know what to do’.” — Lee Perry (Barrow, Katz, and Wyatt 10).

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Trailer for The Upsetter, a new documentary about the life of Lee Perry. Directed by Ethan Higbee.