Hyman Wright
Roots & Culture-Bearers
known for
Record producer and audio engineer, also known as Papa Life, who founded the Brooklyn-based Jah Life label and produced early records for Eek-A-Mouse and Barrington Levy.
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Full biography
Hyman Wright, also known professionally as Papa Life, is a record producer and audio engineer from Kingston, Jamaica, active in the reggae and dancehall industry since around 1972. He founded the Brooklyn-based record label Jah Life in the late 1970s, through which he produced more than 150 reggae singles.
In 1981, Wright produced one of Eek-A-Mouse's first singles, "Georgie Porgie." After meeting Barrington Levy in 1979, he went on to produce a number of Levy's early releases, including "Black Roses" (1983) and "Murderer" (1984), the latter co-produced with longtime collaborator Patrick Chin.
Wright became a key figure in the New York reggae and dancehall scene through Jah Life's output, though detailed biographical information such as his birth date is not documented in available sources.
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