5. Lee “Scratch” Perry, The UpsettersReturn Of The Super Ape

All of Lee Perry’s adventures into dub – and this one in particular – sound like future music to me; he called what he did “future music for future children”. To me, it’s the sound of space. I have so much admiration for his attitude of taking any form and deconstructing it, smashing it, just blowing it out in a new way that people might not be into at the time, but would eventually recognise for what it is. He’s a complete and total innovator: the rocksteady king, the reggae king, the dub king, and also a punk, someone who operated with a real punk attitude. And, yes, I know he was insane. But just think about what it must be like, having that kind of vision and mastering your craft at such a young age. Like Jimi Hendrix, who was so accomplished at such a young age when he was backing up the Isley Brothers. Or Picasso! I don’t think Picasso was an awesome person, but when I was in Barcelona and I saw drawings and paintings that he did when he was 19, I was like, “Yeah, that’s why you smashed the fuck out of everything – you were better than your teachers at age 19, and also a lot of painters working at that time, so where were you going to go from there? You’ve gotta break it all down and starting it all over again.” And that’s what Lee “Scratch” Perry did – he is definitely that kind of person.