Papa Kojak, also known as Kojak or Nigger Kojak (born Floyd Anthony Perch; 30 September 1959 – 12 September 2024), was a Jamaican

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

deejay A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music festivals), mobile DJ ...

and singer.Larkin, Colin: "The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae", 1998, Virgin Books,

Biography

Perch began his career under the name Pretty Boy Floyd, deejaying on various

sound systems Sound system may refer to: Technology media * Sound reinforcement system, a system for amplifying audio for an audience * High fidelity, a sound system intended for accurate reproduction of music in the home * Public address system, an institution ...

. Taking inspiration from

Telly Savalas Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas (; January 21, 1922 – January 22, 1994) was a Greek-American actor. Noted for his bald head and deep, resonant voice, he is perhaps best known for portraying Lt. Theo Kojak on the crime drama series '' Kojak'' (1973� ...

' television character, ''

Kojak ''Kojak'' is an American Action film, action Crime film, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theophilus "Theo" Kojak. Tak ...

'', Perch changed his stage name to Nigger Kojak, shaving his head and often appearing with Kojak's signature

lollipop A lollipop is a type of sugar candy usually consisting of hard candy mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. Different informal terms are used in different places, including lolly, sucker and sticky-pop. Lollipops are avail ...

. He had a local hit with his debut single, "Massacre", and after featuring on

Dennis Brown Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (1 February 1957 – 1 July 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of l ...

's "Ain't That Loving You" single with "Hole In De Bucket", along with a female singer, as ''Kojak and Liza'', many of his subsequent releases would be combinations with "Liza", although there were at least two female singers who joined him under that name (Beverly Brown and Jacqueline Boland), including the debut ''Showcase'' album. Kojak was one of a number of deejays who shifted the emphasis from 'cultural' chants to pure 1980s dancehall chat.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, eter: "Reggae: The Rough Guide", 1997, Rough Guides, The success of Kojak and Liza led to the track "Nice Up Jamaica" (actually a Perch solo outing, on the "Real Rock" rhythm) being endorsed by the Jamaican tourist board. Perch set up his own label, also called ''Nigger Kojak'', releasing records by artists including Delton Screechie. 1983 saw a second album, with ''Rock Jack Kojak'', recorded live at

Prince Jammy Lloyd Woodrowe James (born 26 October 1947),Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter: "Reggae: The Rough Guide", 1997, Rough Guides, better known as Prince Jammy or King Jammy, is a Jamaican dub mixer, sound system owner and record producer. He began hi ...

's studio. Perch resurfaced in 1996 as a singer, releasing an album of soul cover versions under his real name on the Mouthpiece record label. Perch died on 12 September 2024, at the age of 68.

Discography

Singles

*"Hole In The Bucket" (1979, Laser) (on the

"Ain't That Loving You" 12") *"

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

Style" (1978,

Joe Gibbs Joseph Jackson Gibbs (born November 25, 1940) is an American auto racing team owner and former American football, football coach. He served as the head coach of the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) from 1981 Washingto ...

) *"Massacre" (1979, Belmont/Laser) *"Fist To Fist Rub a Dub" (1979, Belmont) (Nigger Kojak & Liza) *"I'm Still in Love with You" (1979,

) (Marcia Aitken & Nigger Kojak) *"Sky Juice" (1979, Joe Gibbs) (Nigger Kojak & Liza) *"Different Style" (1979,

) *"Big Iron" (19??, Joe Gibbs) *"Nice Up Jamaica" (?, Nigger Kojak) *"Olive Baby" (1980, Moa Anbaessa) (Delton Screechie & Kojak) *"Do It Sweet" (1980, Moa Anbessa) *"Penitentiary" (1980, Nigger Kojak) *"Yu Jamming So" (?, Joe Gibbs) *"Green Bay Killing" (19??), Joe Gibbs *"Pon the Corner" (19??, Joe Gibbs) *"Pick It Up Liza" (?, Nigger Kojak) (A-side Delton Screechie - "I've Got A Letter") *"Bam Bam" (1982, Joe Gibbs) (Kojak & Liza) *"Early Rooster" (1982, Nigger Kojak) (Papa Kojak) *"One Beer" (1982, ?) *"Happy Day" (1982, Gorgon) (Nigger Kojak & Mother Liza) *"Come Inna Dis" (1982, Rough & Tough) *"Untrue Love version" (1982, Ruff N Tuff) *"Chant Down Babylon" (1983, ?) (Nigger Kojak & Mother Liza) *"Dedicated to You" (1983, ?) (Nigger Kojak & Mother Liza) *"This Light of Mine Let It Shine" (1983, ?) (Nigger Kojak & Mother Liza) *"Glory of Jah" (1983, ?) (Nigger Kojak & Mother Liza) *"Dance Pon The Band Stand" (1983, ?) (Nigger Kojak & Mother Liza) *"Open Up" (?, S&J Sound) *"Send Down the Rain" (1983, S&J Sound) *"Come A We"/"Hear Me Now" (?,?) (Tetrack & Nigger Kojak) *"Them A Fight" (?,?) (Barry Brown, Nigger Kojak & Liza) *"1000 Gal" (1980, Errol T) *"Aki and Potato" (?,?) (Nigger Kojak & Liza) *"My Woman"/"Ten Thousand Woman" (?,?) (Barrington Levy, Nigger Kojak & Liza) *"Ram It" (?,?) (Nigger Kojak & Liza) *"Jamin So"/"Greenbay Killing" (?,Crazy Joe) (Madoo & Nigger Kojak) *"Black Skin" (?,?) (Nigger Kojak & Mother Liza) *"Two Bad Duppy" (?,?) (Nigger Kojak & Mother Liza) *"The Posse" (?,?) (Nigger Kojak & Liza) *"Down By The Riverside" (?,?) *"Pot Cover" (1986, Hit/GG) (Kojak & Liza) *"No Better Nuh Deh" (1987, Black

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

) *" Rastaman Song" (?, Hit/GG) (

Ethiopians Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global Ethiopian diaspora, diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute #Ethnicity, several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighbor ...

& Kojak) *"Sit Down Pon It" (1986, Music Trac) (Kojak & Liza) *"Pill For Peace Combination" (200?, Uhuru) (Kojak, Bubbles) *"Send Down the Rain" (2002, Uhuru) *"Give Ear" (2008, Version City) *"Rise & Shine" (2008, Heartical) (A-Side Chronicle - "Serve

Jah Jah or Yah (, ''Yāh'') is a short form of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), the personal name of God: Yahweh, which the ancient Israelites used. The conventional Christian English pronunciation of ''Jah'' is , even though the letter J here transliter ...

") *"Domino Tournament" (????), Gorgon *"Straight to Yaba Yu's Head" (????, Roots From the Yard) *"Fight Against Corruption" (19??, World Enterprise) (Nigger Kojak & Liza) *"Trick in the Book" (19??, World Enterprise) *"I Shall Not Remove" (19??, Parish) (Nigger Kojak & Liza)

Albums

*''Nigger Kojak and Liza Showcase'' (1980, Gorgon) *''Rock Jack Kojak'' (1983, Nigger Kojak) *''

Chant A chant (from French ', from Latin ', "to sing") is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of no ...

Down

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

'' (198?, Gorgon) (as Mother Liza with Kojak) *''Life Is a Journey'' (198?) Razor Sounds *''Floyd

Perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...

A/K/A Papa Kojak'' (1996, Mouthpiece) *''Screechie and Kojak'' (2004, Silver Kamel) *''Kojack Now'' (200?) Uhuru

References

External links

Nigger Kojak at Roots Archives
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Papa Kojak 1959 births 2024 deaths Jamaican reggae musicians Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica