ENTITY · PERSON

Sonia Pottinger

Probable

Sonia Pottinger (1931-2010), known as "Miss P," was Jamaica's first female record producer, active from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s. Working from her Tip Top Records shop, she released rocksteady and reggae hits on her Gay Feet, High Note, Tip Top and Rainbow labels for the Ethiopians, the Melodians ("Swing and Dine"), Delano Stewart, Ken Boothe and others. She acquired Duke Reid's Treasure Isle catalogue in 1974 and produced Culture's Harder Than the Rest (1978).

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At a glance

Type: person →
Era: Rocksteady, reggae and dub →
Confidence: Probable

Connections

Media & sources

Articles & sources

Open source ↗

Jamaica Gleaner — Sonia Pottinger, a pioneer in Jamaican music

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Jamaica Gleaner article; clickable source URL for editorial verification, external reference only.

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In stories

Story · Well supportedWomen behind the boards and the business

Producers, executives and one dancer whose stand-off with a promoter opened a stage to Rastafarian drumming -- the women who ran the business side of Jamaican music.

Story · Well supportedRiddim and Reign: The Women Who Shaped Reggae and Dancehall

From the rocksteady queens and the first female producer to the I-Threes, the lovers-rock pioneers and the dancehall crown, women have carried Jamaican music from the studio floor to the world stage.

Story · Well supportedWomen in the control room and on the mic

Women in Jamaican music ran labels, owned catalogues, sang the rhythms that never went out of print and took dancehall abroad — usually while being described as somebody's backing singer.

Debate & reception

How people argued about the music — praise, criticism and public debate. See all debate & reception →

commentary

Women’s labour in reggae histories

Women’s work as label owners, singers, dancers, teachers and scene organizers is often present in sources but under-indexed in summary histories.

Stance: documented participation vs under-indexed labour