Sunday , June 13, 2010
Style Icon: Lee Scratch Perry
I know what yer thinkin': What does this old dude have anything to do with the like of fashion me? Well, little whippersnappers, the answer is: EVERYTHING. Lee Perry is a god among gods in the intricate, deeply obsessive yet highly obtuse world of roots reggae and dub. The man heard sounds no one else did and made the recording studio bow to his whims in creating these alien noises. He's a bona-fide, balls-out, pedal-to-the-medal genius, not only in the musical front, but on the style tip as well. I did a half-assed entry on dub dude style that remains one of my favorite things I've written about fashion, ever, but I just want to expand here on the fashion brilliance that Scratch has consistently displayed throughout the course of his career. First of all, he does the crazy-layered, dumpster-scavenged look so well; as My Favorite Dude in the World once pointed out, he's totally proto-hipster. But really, he's so beyond that maligned label -- what's genius about his style is how it emerges organically from his commitment to his music, his culture and his Rastafarian spirituality, and how consistent it's been from his youth to age 73, where he's currently kicking it now, making records with dudes from Lightning Bolt and, uh, Andrew W.K. and Moby. (An aside: I feel like everyone who is in music after a certain amount of years will work with Moby. He's like the Jennifer Warnes of modern music.) Just watch this awesome video of Scratch at work at the famous Black Ark studio in the 70s; he's rocking a simple tank top and athletic shorts, and he does it way better than any pseudo-subversive American Apparel model:
(By the way, why does everyone in this video look amazing? I wish everything could be shot on 70s-esque film stock.)
Anyway, the lessons of style we can take from Lee Scratch Perry as a fashion guru can be summarized thusly:
(1) Don't think fashion, feel it.
(2) Love your genius more than your outfit.
(3) Live in Jamaica, everyone dresses better there.
(4) Emperor Haile Selassie is a better icon than Carine Roitfeld.
Witness!
Tags: dub, dub dudes, Haile Selassie, Lee Scratch Perry, style icons, style idols
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Posted by Kat in Icons |
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6 Comments!!
Say something so insightful and witty, it will blow us away. (No pressure.)
Got something to say? We'd love to hear it! Name, email and "type in the weirdo drunken text" thingie are all required to comment; don't worry, we won't email you or anything, we just want to make sure you're not an evil spambot. Keeping in mind the good-times mentality we like to keep going here, we've worked hard to keep NOGOODFORME.COM as fun as possible. We welcome all kinds of comments, but insults/abuse/general bitchery are not tolerated. In other words, we put the smackdown on evil troll posts. If you want to be a hater, please go elsewhere. Now, as Salt 'N Pepa say, "Only the sexy people..."
it makes me sad that i'm not brave enough to wear a headress.
it also makes me sad that i always forget to get into lee scratch perry. where do i begin, kat?
By Liz
on May 20, 2009 2:39 PM
I love you, Kat.
By Laura
on May 20, 2009 4:41 PM
LJ: I love you, too. Liz: I will make you a CD. You could go broke buying up the hundreds of Lee Scratch Perry records out there. Dude is prolific! xo k.
By Kat
on May 20, 2009 9:17 PM
Scratch is notable because he is a great producer, unique in his own right, divinely energized and honestly inspired by the words, works and presence of Emperor Haile Selassie I, as many of us are.
Jah bless!
By Jah-Jim on May 21, 2009 1:59 AM
Jah-Jim, yes, I agree with you completely! Thank you for reading! xo k.
By Kat
on May 21, 2009 11:47 AM
yes, please, mix cd! xo
By Liz
on May 21, 2009 12:03 PM