At 86 years young, Patricia Chin is far from slowing down. As a veteran music entrepreneur, Miss Pat’s dedication to reggae music and nurturing talent remains as strong as ever. “Music is my life and I still have to keep the momentum going from the past sixty years. I love to communicate and unite people. Doing nothing is not my goal,” Patricia Chin passionately stated in a release to DancehallMag.
This Saturday, April 20, marks International Record Store Day, and VP Records, the iconic label she co-founded, is gearing up for a special celebration at its flagship store in Jamaica, Queens, and its retail store in Miramar, Florida. At an age when many of her peers are enjoying retirement, Patricia Chin asserts that none of that is on her agenda.
The Unwavering Spirit of Patricia Chin
“I’m not retired,” Patricia Chin laughs. “I don’t think of myself as retired at all. I still have work to do and I still have my ears to the streets. I’ve been through it all—from mento, ska, to rocksteady, reggae, dancehall, and dub—and I’ve never lost track of the different trends in the music. My plan is to keep going and to keep preserving our musical legacy for as long as I can.”
Patricia Chin and her late husband Vincent Chin founded VP Records in New York in 1979, naming the label after their initials, V and P. They had immigrated to the USA from Jamaica after running a small record store, Randy’s Record Mart, and a recording studio, Studio 17, for some 20 years in downtown Kingston.
From a tiny retail outlet on Jamaica Avenue in Queens, VP Records has grown to become the largest independent reggae label and distributor of Caribbean music in the world.
A Born Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship was in Miss Pat’s DNA. Growing up in Kingston as the eldest of three children born to her Chinese mother and Indian father, she started her own business during childhood. While at Alpha Girls School, she asked her father to buy her some rubber bands and marbles—popular novelty items amongst her schoolmates at the time. Exhibiting her enterprising spirit, she sold them at lunchtime.
“Looking back,” says Patricia Chin today, “Maybe that’s how my business sense began to develop.”
That business sense would serve her well as she entered the predominantly male-dominated world of Jamaican popular music later on.
“Back then in Jamaica, I didn’t even realize I was doing a man’s job. I was just doing a job to survive and create a business. I didn’t feel like it was a man’s job. My biggest survival skill was that I respect people, and they respect me. It was strictly business. I wasn’t afraid to approach people, and I learned these skills from my parents, who taught us to look after the community.”
Challenges and Triumphs in the USA
“My role at VP for the first ten years was what we would now call telemarketing—handling orders by phone with my son Chris,” she recalled.
“It was mostly men who would buy records in those days and when they called and heard my voice they would ask, ‘Can you put on a man to take the order?’ And I would reply, ‘Why do you need a man?’ They thought I wasn’t well versed in the music or educated in it. But I had spent so much time in the music industry—including twenty years running the counter at Randy’s back in Jamaica—that I was more than familiar. But being a woman, I had to work harder. I didn’t go to the dances. I had to study. I had to ask a lot of questions because I had to retain a lot of information.”
Patricia Chin’s perseverance was instrumental to the eventual success of VP Records, which proudly boasts a roster of present and past artists that includes many of the most popular reggae and dancehall stars of all time, including Beres Hammond, Shaggy, Beenie Man, Sean Paul, Spice, Lady Saw, Morgan Heritage, and Tanya Stephens. Many of them have become her close friends.
Perseverance Through Personal Tragedies
Having survived and thrived amidst early professional challenges and overcoming several personal tragedies, including the loss of her husband Vincent, two sons, and a grandson, Miss Pat continues to persevere, determined to make a difference.
“This is why I do not even think of myself as retiring,” she said, “Because there is so much more to do. I do a lot of work with the VP Foundation which we created to give back by assisting in the development of young musicians, artistes, and the culture. Once a year, we go to Jamaica to support our various charities including the Alpha Boys School. I also find a way to share my story to inspire others by doing events and festivals.”
Recognitions and Memoirs
In 2006, the government of Jamaica awarded her the prestigious Order of Distinction (OD) in recognition of her contribution to Jamaican music and culture. In 2021, Patricia Chin published her memoirs, Miss Pat—My Reggae Music Journey, to great acclaim.
The book chronicles her entire life, from early childhood in Kingston to becoming co-founder of her multi-Grammy Award-winning record label and international brand. She is also the first woman to have received the American Association of Independent Music Lifetime Achievement Award.
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