Tapper Zukie

Jamaican-born reggae singer, producer, and dubmaster Tapper Zukie first got started as a performer when he moved to London in the early ’70s. Coming under the tutelage of established reggae presences like Bunny Lee and U-Roy, Zukie quickly began performing and releasing albums of his own, hitting a hot streak near the end of the ’70s and creating dub classics like 1976’s In Dub and 1978′s Escape from Hell. He excelled as a producer and record executive, forming his own labels Stars and Tappa Records and working with reggae stars like Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, Sugar Minott, and many others. Zukie occasionally made new music of his own, however, performing into the 2010s and sporadically releasing new albums like 2022′s Bunker Buster.
Tapper Zukie was born David Sinclair in Kingston, Jamaica in 1955. He was immersed in Kingston’s sound system scene as early as his pre-teen years, but by age 17 he was getting in trouble to the point where his parents sent him to England to live with relatives there. Within a day of his arrival in London, the aspiring deejay was the opening act for a U-Roy concert, and within a year of living there he released his 1973 solo debut Man Ah Warrior. Zukie’s roughneck demeanor and anti-authoritarian politics showed up in his music, and with help from mentor Bunny Lee, Zukie released the charged 1976 album M.P.L.A., and founded his own Stars label to prolifically release a string of albums over the next few years: Escape from Hell, In Dub, Tapper Zukie International, The Man from Bozrah, and others. In 1978 he signed on with Virgin for the release of Peace in the Ghetto. Zukie split his time between Kingston, London, and New York, constantly recording, playing shows, and producing for other artists. He performed with Patti Smith and began producing for reggae greats like Horace Andy, Max Romeo, the Mighty Diamonds, and many others. He had a few hits in Jamaica at the start of the ’80s, but spent the majority of the next few decades behind the mixing console more than working on his own songs. ’80s albums like 1983’s Earth Running and 1986′s Ragamuffin did appear, but things slowed down significantly from there, with a decade passing before 1996′s Deep Roots showed up. Busy with label duties for his Tappa Records imprint, Zukie’s music occasionally showed up mostly in the form of compilation or anthology releases, but he still performed on occasion. In 2019 he announced he was working on a new album, and in 2022 that album, Bunker Buster materialized. Comprised of reworked and newly expanded rhythms from Zukie’s vault, Bunker Buster included cameos from some of reggae’s best players, including Sly & Robbie, Half Pint, Junior Rass, and celebrated Jamaican vocal group The Tamlins. ~ Fred Thomas