Lee “Scratch” Perry

Rainford Hugh Perry, known as Lee “Scratch” Perry OD, Lee “Scratch” Perry was a Jamaican producer, songwriter, singer, and DJ who helped reshape reggae music. He was among the first Jamaican producer-musician to use the studio as an instrument, and he pioneered the reggae instrumental form known as dub, in which sections of a rhythm track were removed, and others emphasized through echo, distortion, repetition, and backward tape looping. A legendary eccentric, he was known to blow marijuana smoke on his finished master tapes to give them the proper “vibe,” and he reportedly burned down Black Ark in 1980.