#regggae #soundsystem #dancehall
VP Records is pleased to have Colin Abrahams, better known as Puma, founder and selector for Brooklyn’s original LP International Soundsystem as the second soundman in its monthly series, Soundman Sessions. The series is the first Saturday of each month live at noon Eastern Time on YouTube, broadcast from VP’s retail store at 170-19 Jamaica Avenue, Queens.
Downbeat the Ruler kicked off the series on February 13th. The series features soundsystem owner/operators who have played a role in the development of soundsystem DJ culture in New York and beyond.
LP International is the brainchild of its perennial selector and owner Colin “Puma” Abrahams. After arriving in New York in 1982 as a teenager from Rocky Point, Clarendon, Jamaica, he began to built on his passion for soundsystem culture that had started when he was growing up in Jamaica and held on to via a cassette collection that came with him. “I used live next to a dancehall in Jamaica, and Aces, Jah Love, Stereograph, all the sounds used to come through. I knew Josie Wales before he started to DJ with Stereograph and Cocoa Tea before he ever recorded.”
From the heart of Flatbush, Brooklyn, Puma gathered a few talented people and hosted house parties with friends from his and other local high schools, playing his mother and step-father’s Alton Ellis, John Holt, Bob Marley, and other classic reggae records while building his own collection through visits to Music Master, Jah Life, Super Power, Moodies and other stores.
He built his early set from car soundsystems and graduated to home stereos, eventually getting opportunities to play in clubs, growing more interested in the clash culture that was gaining momentum in the 1980s. His first dubs were cut by Brooklyn artists, but Frankie Paul was the first Jamaican artist he got on dub. Area artists then included Red Fox, Naturalee, Screechy Dan, Shaggy, Babie Lou, Blacka P, and General GT among others.
He would eventually clash all the Brooklyn and New York sounds including Downbeat and Addies, becoming a highly respected part of one of the world’s biggest centers for Jamaican music and soundsystem culture. One of LP International’s points of pride is Puma and his crew’s ability to adapt to a changing environment. As the culture evolved from soundsystems that travelled with all their gear and a crew of entertainers, LP adapted to the DJ culture of New York, incorporating mixing into the presentation as hip-hop DJ culture changed the playing field.
Puma boasts the largest set of Dennis Brown dubs in the world, coming from a dub box that is deep to begin with. Some of his favorites dubs are from Sanchez, Luciano, and Michael Rose, plus all of the original dubs from his Brooklyn friends. The current LP International crew includes Puma, Killa D (emcee/selector), and Junior Killah (selector), and manager Noey Don.
