“Life On a Big Screen”
Miss Pat’s Stellar Journey

In “Gone A Foreign”, the third chapter of her illuminating autobiography, Mrs. Patricia Chin, affectionately known as Miss Pat, describes her first view of New York City in this vivid way: “It was just on an exaggerated scale for us, like life on a big screen.”
It’s no overstatement to say that Miss Pat’s own story would make an inspiring documentary. Coming from a small island to the big city, Miss Pat brought all the elements of a great script. It’s a classic success story. Born in humble circumstances, she learnt valuable lessons from her parents who motivated her to achieve. They taught her how to value family which has been the foundation of her remarkable life.
Miss Pat also learned at home how to be enterprising: to turn her hand mek fashion, as we say in Jamaica. Taking the little she had and making a profit by investing it wisely! It all started with selling marbles to her classmates to earn lunch money.
Much later, Miss Pat and her husband Vincent ‘Randy’ Chin recognised the economic power of Jamaican popular music. They went into the business of culture. Randy’s Record Mart was established in 1958 at 17 North Parade, downtown Kingston. Then a production studio was added.
In the 1970s, the Chins migrated to the U.S. and in 1979 the VP Records label was born. From the town of Kings to the borough of Queens, VP Records has remained the Independent Label of choice for reggae music. As Orville ‘Shaggy’ Burrell says, “The good thing about VP was that they was our outlet. Because now all the majors are buying into our music. But back then, VP was our only outlet. They was that little candle light at the end of the tunnel.”
In 2015, when VP Records celebrated its 35th anniversary at the Grace Jerk Festival in Queens, Miss Pat was in her element. She was a ball of energy bouncing around the venue. The showpiece of the event was a vibrant pop-up exhibition on Jamaican popular music, brilliantly designed by graphic artist Michael ‘Freestylee’ Thompson, co-founder with Maria Papaefstathiou of the International Reggae Poster Contest. Huge banners, featuring iconic Jamaican musicians, attracted thousands of visitors to the VP tent.
Miss Pat has been a visionary supporter of the International Reggae Poster Contest, attending exhibitions in the U.S., Mexico, Spain, Cuba and Jamaica. I met her in 2013 at the opening of a poster exhibition at the Multitudes Gallery in Little Haiti, Miami. I saw her again at another exhibition of posters at the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C.
“Miles ahead in reggae music.” That’s the VP trademark. And it’s been quite a journey for Miss Pat. VP is now the biggest distributor of reggae, dancehall and soca music. To di world! Miss Pat’s inspiring autobiography documents her vital contribution to the growth of VP Records and the music industry in Jamaica.
Nuff respect due, Miss Pat!