Dorothy Smith (born 22 November 1972), better known by her stage name Patra, is a Jamaican

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 ...

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

singer.

Career

In her beginnings as a female dancehall

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 ...

in the late 1980s, she used the stage name Lady Patra. Patra first made an impression on the US

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabul ...

as a featured singer on the

Shabba Ranks Shabba Ranks (born Rexton Rawlston Fernando Gordon; 17 January 1966) is a Jamaican dancehall musician. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was one of the most popular Jamaican musicians in the world. Throughout his prominence in his home cou ...

song, "Family Affair", which hit No. 84 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1994. In 1993, Patra released her debut album ''Queen of The Pack'' (#1 on the

Reggae albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

chart). It was led by the single "Think (About It)" in 1993, which peaked at #21 on the Billboard Rap Singles chart and #89 on R&B. Her follow-up single "Worker Man" became a bigger hit, reaching #53 on the Hot 100, the

Top 20 A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...

on the R&B chart and #1 on the U.S. Dance chart. The album's third and final single, "Romantic Call" (#55 U.S., #21 U.S. Dance), was a collaboration with emcee

Yo-Yo A yo-yo (also spelled yoyo) is a toy consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a string looped around the axle, similar to a spool. It is an ancient toy with proof of existence since 500 BCE. The yo-yo was also called a bandalore in ...

. In 1995, Patra released her single "

Pull Up to the Bumper "Pull Up to the Bumper" is a 1981 song by Jamaican singer Grace Jones, released as the third single from her fifth album, '' Nightclubbing'' (1981). Sonically, it is an uptempo electro-disco, post-punk, dance-pop and reggae-disco song with dub ...

" which was a remake of the

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...

song and peaked at #60 on the Hot 100, #21 R&B, and #15 on the Dance chart. Her second album, ''Scent of Attraction'' followed later that year, and peaked at #151 on the Billboard 200, #28 on the R&B/Hip Hop Albums, and #2 on the Reggae charts. The set's single, "Scent of Attraction" featuring R&B musician Aaron Hall peaked at #82 on the Hot 100, and became her fourth Top 40 (peak: #31) R&B hit. "Dip and Fall Back" was also released as a single off the album but failed to chart. Patra also performed on the 1995 ''

Panther Panther may refer to: Large cats *Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **''Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. ***Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in Sout ...

'' movie soundtrack with the song "

Freedom (Theme from Panther) "Freedom" is a 1995 song released on Mercury Records featuring a chorus of over 60 African-American female artists and groups of note in hip-hop, pop and R&B music including En Vogue, Aaliyah, Vanessa L. Williams, Mary J. Blige, MC Lyte, SWV, T ...

", a collaboration between the American music industry's leading

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

female vocalists. She also performed on

C+C Music Factory C, or c, is the third letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''cee'' (pronounced ), plural ''cees''. History "C" ...

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

of its hit single "Take a Toke" that same year. After a few years to spend time with family, she released her third studio album ''The Great Escape'' in 2003, preceded by the single "Pressure Me." The following year, she appeared on the ''Two Culture Clash'' project, where she was featured on the album's lead single, "How Do You Love" featuring fellow reggae artist, Danny English. Her fourth studio album, ''Where I've Been'', was released in 2005, preceded by the single "Man Dem Thriller" and released through the

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

, Wall Street Entertainment. A follow-up single, "Black Cinderella" was also released. Soon after, Patra took some time off once again from the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

, becoming more spiritually connected to God and completing a bachelor's degree in history and political science. In 2012, she signed with Veal-Steen Music. That year, she did a series of shows and interviews, and began work on her fifth studio album with a 12-track set planned with A&R executive/producer, Rich Nice. She released a buzz track "Bad Inna Bed" ahead of the album's first single, "Come Ova" (featuring Delus) which premiered in June 2012. The music video premiered on August 24, 2012, on YouTube. In 2013, she announced a new single off the album (now titled ''Patra: The Continuation''), "Sweet Reggae Music," which premiered in April. The album ''Patra: The Continuation" was released on February 18, 2014.

Personal

In April 2005, Patra was arrested for charges of fraud, but was shortly released on bail.

Discography

Albums

* ''Queen of the Pack'' (1993) – US #103 * ''Scent of Attraction'' (1995) – US #151 * ''The Great Escape'' (2003) * ''Where I've Been'' (2005) * ''Patra: The Continuation'' (2014)

Singles

References