Scientist

So named for his technical skills on the mixing board, Jamaica’s Scientist rose from the ranks of King Tubby’s Kingston recording studio to become one of dub reggae’s most recognizable producers in the ’80s. His spacious textures and precise but playful mixing style came to full bloom on a string of solo LPs whose colorful cover art depicted him battling Space Invaders, winning the World Cup, and achieving other heroic feats. Scientist was born Hopeton Overton Brown in April 1980 in Jamaica’s capital, and as a kid he learned his way around electronics from his TV-repairman father. In the ’70s, Brown’s knack for building his own amplifiers led to a gig working under King Tubby, and he proved himself on mixing duties by taking on cuts from the Roots Tradition label. Scientist had stints working for Channel One and Tuff Gong before relocating to the Washington, DC, suburbs in 1985 to continue working as an audio engineer. His dozens of albums include echo-drenched team-ups with Tubby as well as Prince Jammy and The Roots Radics, and while he has launched legal battles over the years to protect his royalty rights, he has also explored new ideas—even collabing with Aussie psych-rockers King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard on a 2021 dub version of their song “Shanghai.”