Pinchers

Dancehall singer Delroy Thompson—better known by the stage name Pinchers—used his supple vocal style and incisive lyrics to set himself apart from prevailing reggae trends in the ’80s and early ’90s. A regular collaborator of producer King Jammy at the time, he embraced digital production in its early years but steered away from the X-rated lyrics of dancehall stars like Yellowman, instead filling hits like the 1987 lover’s lament “Agony” with evocative imagery and ironic turns of phrase. Thompson was born in 1965 in Jamaica, where his mother encouraged his musical passions from a young age. He grew up during the dawn of dancehall reggae, and he teamed up with the forward-thinking rhythm crew Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare on early tracks like 1986’s “Abrakadabra” and “Can’t Take the Pressure”. A year later, he started working with King Jammy, who helped Pinchers land his second major hit (after “Agony”) in 1991 with the boastful, Zorro-referencing “Bandelero”. Thompson hasn’t been as prolific in recent years, but in the late 2000s his son Kemar took up the elder’s mantle when he began releasing music under the name Jr. Pinchers.