Papa Kojak, also known as Kojak or Nigger Kojak (born Floyd Anthony Perch, 30 September 1959 in
Kingston, Jamaica) is a
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
deejay
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...
and
singer
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
.
[Larkin, Colin: "The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae", 1998, Virgin Books, ]
Biography
Perch began his career under the name Pretty Boy Floyd, deejaying on various
sound systems
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...
.
Taking inspiration from
Telly Savalas
Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas (January 21, 1922 – January 22, 1994) was an American actor and singer whose career spanned four decades. Noted for his bald head and deep, resonant voice, he is perhaps best known for portraying Lt. Theo Kojak on th ...
' television character, ''
Kojak
''Kojak'' is an American action crime drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theodopolis "Theo" Kojak. Taking the time slot of the popular ''Cannon'' series, ...
'', Perch changed his stage name to Nigger Kojak, shaving his head and often appearing with Kojak's signature
lollipop
A lollipop is a type of sugar candy usually consisting of hard candy mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. Different informal terms are used in different places, including lolly, sucker, sticky-pop, etc. Lollipops are ava ...
.
He had a local hit with his debut single, "Massacre", and after featuring on
Dennis Brown
Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (1 February 1957 – 1 July 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of lo ...
's "Ain't That Loving You" single with "Hole In De Bucket", along with a female singer, as ''Kojak and Liza'', many of his subsequent releases would be combinations with "Liza", although there were at least two female singers who joined him under that name (Beverly Brown and Jacqueline Boland),
including the debut ''Showcase'' album. Kojak was one of a number of deejays who shifted the emphasis from 'cultural' chants to pure 1980s dancehall chat.
[Barrow, Steve & Dalton, eter: "Reggae: The Rough Guide", 1997, Rough Guides, ] The success of Kojak and Liza led to the track "Nice Up Jamaica" (actually a Perch solo outing, on the "Real Rock" rhythm) being endorsed by the Jamaican tourist board.
Perch set up his own label, also called ''Nigger Kojak'', releasing records by artists including Delton Screechie.
1983 saw a second album, with ''Rock Jack Kojak'', recorded live at
Prince Jammy
Lloyd James (born 26 October 1947),Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter: "Reggae: The Rough Guide", 1997, Rough Guides, better known as Prince Jammy or King Jammy, is a Jamaican dub mixer and record producer. He began his musical career as a dub ma ...
's studio.
Perch resurfaced in 1996 as a singer, releasing an album of soul cover versions under his real name on the Mouthpiece record label.
Discography
Singles
*"Hole In The Bucket" (1979, Laser) (on the Dennis Brown "Ain't That Loving You" 12")
*"Christmas Style" (1978, Joe Gibbs)
*"Massacre" (1979, Belmont/Laser)
*"Fist To Fist Rub a Dub" (1979, Belmont) (Nigger Kojak & Liza)
*"I'm Still in Love with You" (1979, Joe Gibbs) (Marcia Aitken & Nigger Kojak)
*"Sky Juice" (1979, Joe Gibbs) (Nigger Kojak & Liza)
*"Different Style" (1979, Joe Gibbs)
*"Big Iron" (19??, Joe Gibbs)
*"Nice Up Jamaica" (?, Nigger Kojak)
*"Olive Baby" (1980, Moa Anbaessa) (Delton Screechie & Kojak)
*"Do It Sweet" (1980, Moa Anbessa)
*"Penitentiary" (1980, Nigger Kojak)
*"Yu Jamming So" (?, Joe Gibbs)
*"Green Bay Killing" (19??), Joe Gibbs
*"Pon the Corner" (19??, Joe Gibbs)
*"Pick It Up Liza" (?, Nigger Kojak) (A-side Delton Screechie - "I've Got A Letter")
*"Bam Bam" (1982, Joe Gibbs) (Kojak & Liza)
*"Early Rooster" (1982, Nigger Kojak) (Papa Kojak)
*"One Beer" (1982, ?)
*"Happy Day" (1982, Gorgon) (Nigger Kojak & Mother Liza)
*"Come Inna Dis" (1982, Rough & Tough)
*"Untrue Love version" (1982, Ruff N Tuff)
*"Chant Down Babylon" (1983, ?) (Nigger Kojak & Mother Liza)
*"Dedicated to You" (1983, ?) (Nigger Kojak & Mother Liza)
*"This Light of Mine Let It Shine" (1983, ?) (Nigger Kojak & Mother Liza)
*"Glory of Jah" (1983, ?) (Nigger Kojak & Mother Liza)
*"Dance Pon The Band Stand" (1983, ?) (Nigger Kojak & Mother Liza)
*"Open Up" (?, S&J Sound)
*"Send Down the Rain" (1983, S&J Sound)
*"Come A We"/"Hear Me Now" (?,?) (Tetrack & Nigger Kojak)
*"Them A Fight" (?,?) (Barry Brown, Nigger Kojak & Liza)
*"1000 Gal" (1980, Errol T)
*"Aki and Potato" (?,?) (Nigger Kojak & Liza)
*"My Woman"/"Ten Thousand Woman" (?,?) (Barrington Levy, Nigger Kojak & Liza)
*"Ram It" (?,?) (Nigger Kojak & Liza)
*"Jamin So"/"Greenbay Killing" (?,Crazy Joe) (Madoo & Nigger Kojak)
*"Black Skin" (?,?) (Nigger Kojak & Mother Liza)
*"Two Bad Duppy" (?,?) (Nigger Kojak & Mother Liza)
*"The Posse" (?,?) (Nigger Kojak & Liza)
*"Down By The Riverside" (?,?)
*"Pot Cover" (1986, Hit/GG) (Kojak & Liza)
*"No Better Nuh Deh" (1987, Black Solidarity)
*"Rastaman Song" (?, Hit/GG) (
Ethiopians
Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts o ...
& Kojak)
*"Sit Down Pon It" (1986, Music Trac) (Kojak & Liza)
*"Pill For Peace Combination" (200?, Uhuru) (Kojak, Bubbles)
*"Send Down the Rain" (2002, Uhuru)
*"Give Ear" (2008, Version City)
*"Rise & Shine" (2008, Heartical) (A-Side Chronicle - "Serve Jah")
*"Domino Tournament" (????), Gorgon
*"Straight to Yaba Yu's Head" (????, Roots From the Yard)
*"Fight Against Corruption" (19??, World Enterprise) (Nigger Kojak & Liza)
*"Trick in the Book" (19??, World Enterprise)
*"I Shall Not Remove" (19??, Parish) (Nigger Kojak & Liza)
Albums
*''Nigger Kojak and Liza Showcase'' (1980, Gorgon)
*''Rock Jack Kojak'' (1983, Nigger Kojak)
*''Chant Down Babylon'' (198?, Gorgon) (as Mother Liza with Kojak)
*''Life Is a Journey'' (198?) Razor Sounds
*''Floyd Perch A/K/A Papa Kojak'' (1996, Mouthpiece)
*''Screechie and Kojak'' (2004, Silver Kamel)
*''Kojack Now'' (200?) Uhuru
References
External links
Nigger Kojak at Roots Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Papa Kojak
Jamaican reggae musicians
1959 births
Living people
Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica