Miss Pat: The Chinese-Jamaican matriarch of reggae
Patricia Chin aka Miss Pat and her husband started off selling used records from a grocery store. They would go on to build one of the biggest reggae music labels in the world.
In the late 1950s, Patricia Chin 鈥� aka Miss Pat 鈥� abandoned a career in nursing and, with her husband Vincent, started selling old jukebox records out of a grocery store. Their business moved to downtown Kingston and would grow into Randy鈥檚 Record Mart, Jamaica鈥檚 most famous record store. Upstairs, Vincent set up Studio 17 and worked with some of reggae鈥檚 biggest stars 鈥� Bob Marley and the Wailers, Lee 鈥橲cratch鈥� Perry, Alton Ellis and John Holt. But political instability in the 1970s would force them to flee their beloved home. Miss Pat, with just a few dollars, had to rebuild her life and her business. Now, her family runs VP Records, one of the world鈥檚 largest reggae and dancehall labels. Her book is called Miss Pat: My Reggae Journey.
Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com
Presenter: Emily Webb
Producer: Maryam Maruf
Picture: Miss Pat behind the counter in Randy鈥檚 Record Mart
Credit: VP Records
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The Outlook Podcast Archive
True stories of ordinary people and the extraordinary events that have shaped their lives
