Scientist

A protégé of legendary dub innovator King Tubby, Scientist (born Hopeton Brown) was not yet in his twenties when he established himself as among the most in-demand mix engineers in Jamaica. The son of an electronics repair technician, Brown took to servicing hi-fi’s for mobile DJ’s, leading to his employ under King Tubby’s sound system. A mixing session, cut short by one of Tubby’s assistants, saw the adolescent Brown enlisted as a substitute and before long he joined the ranks of Tubby's other pupil, Prince Jammy. Under Tubby’s apprenticeship Brown developed a highly idiosyncratic mixing style; his cavernous dubs, shot with blasts of sci-fi effects and feedback, earned the young upstart the title, Scientist. By the early-‘80s, Scientist became the preferred engineer of Henry “Junjo” Lawes, the dominant producer during reggae’s proto-dancehall period. Throughout the ‘80s, Greensleeves released a spate of popular sci-fi- and superhero-themed albums featuring Scientist’s most popular mixes; the series, went far in securing the Scientist brand, and became popular with reggae and non-reggae fans alike.