IN over 60 years in the music business, Patricia “Miss Pat” Chin has never been one for the spotlight. But in 2021, as she promoted her memoir, millions of people got to know her amazing story.
Miss Pat — My Reggae Music Journey traces her life as a first-generation Jamaican born to immigrants from India and China. She helped her husband, Vincent “Randy” Chin, build an empire through Randy’s Records and VP Records.
Pat Chin, 83, has always enjoyed playing the silent partner.
“They know me as a business person, but I don’t think the public knows who I am; not the struggles and joys I went through. They call it a woman in a man’s job, but I didn’t know what that meant, not until I came to America, because in Jamaica we just consider it work,” she told South Florida Caribbean News last year.
The Chins launched Randy’s Records in 1958 in downtown Kingston. Typical of the Chinese-Jamaican, their company was a multifaceted operation; there was a record store, recording studio, and mini supermarket.
Randy’s and VP distributed, produced, or marketed the music of many reggae greats including Lord Creator, Jimmy London, The Skatalites, Augustus Pablo, Beres Hammond, Beenie Man, Sean Paul, and Etana.
Miss Pat’s role in the transformation of VP Records from a ‘mom and pop’ label to the world’s largest distributor of reggae is detailed in her autobiography.
She lost her husband in 2003 but continues to play a major role in the company they started in Queens, New York, in 1979.
In her book she not only reflects on her music career, but the role Jamaica played in her personal development.
“I wanted to leave a legacy for my grandchildren, great-grandchildren and future generations, because in the past our foreparents didn’t leave anything to show why they came to this little island called Jamaica and how life was tough for them. They didn’t share their history and why they left China and India, so I wanted to have as a record for my great-grandkids can see who I am and what I did,” Miss Pat explained.
You must log in to post a comment.