China and reggae music aren’t an obvious combination, but Clive Chin is touring the nation to prove otherwise. A Jamaican born Chinese, Clive has helped define reggae music by carrying forward his family's musical legacy, which began with Randy’s Records, an ice cream parlour that was transformed into a famous Jamaican music studio frequented by reggae legends like Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Gregory Isaacs.

For Clive Chin, coming to China will be a milestone event not only for himself, but also his family.

The Chins’ journey around the world began with his grandfather William Chin-Sang, a Guangdong carpenter who migrated to Jamaica in the early 1900s. A generation later, Clive’s parents Vincent and Patricia didn’t stay put either. After opening Randy’s in Kingston, Jamaica, the enterprising Chins tried their luck in Jamaica, New York in 1979, renaming their venture VP Records, which became – and remains – one of the world’s largest reggae and dancehall labels.

But his grandfather never returned to China, and even though Clive’s father Vincent dreamed of paying homage to his roots before passing away in 2003, Clive will be the first to bring the Chins full circle. “I can honestly say coming to China is an achievement, since my grandfather didn’t make it back, and my father didn’t make it back. So at least, I – as the third generation – am making it back to China.” 

Indeed, Clive’s visit means several things. Personally, the 55 year old’s tour is about getting in touch with his roots.Musically, it’s about spreading a bit of reggae love; while culturally, his journey will inform people about how Chinese diaspora were pioneers in reggae’s growth and development.

Take his father for example: Vincent Chin was a giant in the Jamaican record industry who went from overseeing the maintenance of jukeboxes in the mid-1950s, to selling discarded American blues, jazz and soul 45s at Randy’s Records – named after Vincent’s favourite Nashville late night R&B radio show. By the end of the decade, the Chins eventually made Randy’s a place for local artists to record and rehearse.

And what a time to do so. Gaining independence from Britain in 1962, Jamaica’s burgeoning music scene was finally coming into its own.

“Back in the 1950s, Jamaica didn’t have a music identity. We used to listen to a lot of blues and jazz from America and Britain. And during my time, I listened to a lot of country western and ballads,” Clive says. “They were playing a lot of calypso, mento and boogie woogie for tourists who came to the island, but our music identity came around independence.”