Born David Sinclair in 1955 in Kingston, Jamaica, Tapper Zukie (also known as Tappa Zukie) became a singer, producer, and dub master in London in the early ’70s. He was immersed in Kingston’s sound system scene as early as his pre-teen years, but by age 17, he was getting in trouble to the point where his parents sent him to England to live with relatives there.
In an interview with Peter I at reggae-vibes.com, Tapper Zukie explained that his parents kicked him out of the house when he was only around 12 because:
“It’s true I used to follow these sounding systems, and every time I go and come it was a problem. But I loved the music and proud of the music more than anything else, I had to lef’ the gate, the home. That’s when I went away in the ghetto area to live away from the… you know?”
In that interview, Tapper Zukie also explained that, while staying at a friend’s house in that period (when the rude boy phenomenon started to mushroom around Kingston), he joined a gang called the ‘Zukies’:
“Well, is not really the gang as such, as the gang who go out and make trouble on the road and do mafia t’ings. We’re just school boys runnin’ around and we’re school gangsters. At school, you’re projectin’ one another in this lickle gang. If you touch one you touch all of us. […] It wasn’t against, like, the police, it was just the school runnings.”
Tapper was the nickname given to him by his grandmother in his youth.
While still in Jamaica, he started playing drums for a small band called The Supremes and became fascinated by sound systems and became an aspiring reggae deejay. He never got the opportunity to record anything in his home country, but his talent was soon recognized in London, where he came under the tutelage of established reggae icons like Bunny Lee and U-Roy.
Within one year of arriving in England, Tapper Zukie was the opening act for a U-Roy concert and released his solo debut “Man Ah Warrior” in 1973. Three years later, with help from mentor Bunny Lee, Tappa Zukie released the “M.P.L.A.” album charged with his anti-authoritarian politics. One notable fan of M.P.L.A. was American singer Patti Smith, who gave Zukie a support slot on her U.K. tour. As a result, Zukie played an integral part in the Punk-Reggae crossover in London in the late 1970s.
Tapper Zukie later founded his own Stars label and released different albums throughout the following years, including “In Dub”, “Escape from Hell”, “Tapper Zukie International” and “The Man from Bozrah”.
In 1978 Zapper Zukie signed on with Virgin to release “Peace in the Ghetto”. He would split his time between Kingston, London, and New York recording, playing shows, and producing for other artists like Horace Andy, Max Romeo and the Mighty Diamonds.
Zapper Zukie excelled as a producer and record executive and spent most of the 1980s and 1990s behind the mixing console.
Sources:
Tapper Zukie Biography by Fred Thomas on allmusic.com
Biography and photod on last.fm
Interview on reggae-vibes.com