Patra Hints That She’s Working On New Music
Dancehall’s Queen of the Pack Patra appears hot, inspired, and back in musical mode, after a years-long hiatus.
The Billboard-charting artist made a surprise appearance on DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic: BET Afterparty 2022, following the 53rd NAACP Image Awards which was aired just over a week ago. Patra, who was among 21 Reggae and Dancehall superstars billed for the show, had put on a fiery performance – which Cassidy since dubbed his favourite — delivering her hit single Romantic Call, clad in her trademark b-rider shorts, but minus her signature braids which she ditched just over two years ago.
The Westmoreland native, since the show, has taken to her Instagram page to post sexy throwback photos of herself in her teens and early 20s, when she was Jamaica’s biggest international sex symbol.
The “Man dem Thriller” posted a photo of herself and the late Bunny Wailer, whom she has long said was her mentor and friend over the years. “Good morning my people – There’s one person I have to thank for me preserving myself for the right moment.. my mentor the one and only Bunny Wailer… RIP Dadda,” she wrote.
In other older and recent photos, the music and fashion icon, who turns 50 in November, showed off her abs to the delight of her fans. “A throw back. Thank you @BET for the years of support. Love you. #ReadyFiDeWorld,” she noted in another.
“This is how it all started.. Now I continue,” she noted under a photo of herself as a teenage superstar.
“As the sun rises in the east and sets in the west- Right mind for the studio vibes,” she added.
She also shared an image of herself walking alongside The Notorious B.I.G. aka Biggie Smalls at the Source Awards, where she had the honor of presenting him with one of his four awards. And, in another post, a music video clip from Romantic Call, she showed a clip of herself and Tupac Shakur riding in a convertible as the rap icon ogled her, as she sang and rocked her body.
Her fans were happy to learn of her return to music, and were even more delighted that she was in good spirits and still maintained a youthful appearance and physique.
“We need you in dancehall cuz they all sound the same nowadays,” aahcreate said , while another added: “You were one of the baddest girls in the 90s. You were in your own lane, had your own style. There’s only one Patra👑❤️❤️”.
“I’ve never been so excited about anything else other than the day I birthed my only Child! You’re the 2nd!” egbunu_joy said.
Interestingly Patra’s return comes weeks after Marion Hall (formerly Lady Saw), accused her of pirating lyrics from her song titled Long Distance Call and using them to voice one of her biggest hits, Romantic Call, the very song she performed during Cassidy’s show.
According to Lady Saw, Patra was an example of a lost soul, who has failed miserably to make a comeback into music, despite multiple attempts.
“There was a woman by the name of Lady Patra. She said she was Queen of the Pack. She stole a song from mi. I wrote the song when I was in Canada: ‘I’m on a long distance call, im talking to my baby down a yard’, and she stole it. I almost slap har over one night at Sting for it,” Lady Saw had said in one of her Instagram sermons.
In the 1990s, Patra was a hotshot on the US musical scene, rubbing shoulders with icons such as Tupac Shakur and her Jamaican compatriots Shabba Ranks, Madd Cobra, and Orville “Shaggy” Burrell.
One of her two gold-selling albums Queen of the Pack, featured the timeless Queen of the Pack title track, as well as Workerman, and Romantic Call. Released in 1993, Queen of The Pack peaked at number one on the Reggae albums chart. It was led by the single Think (About It) which peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Rap Singles chart and number 89 on the R&B charts.
The sultry Worker Man was a massive hit, reaching Number 53 on the Hot 100, the Top 20 on the R&B chart and number one on the U.S. Dance chart, while Romantic Call, which was a collab with Yo-Yo, peaked at number 55 on the US charts and number 21 on the US Dance charts.
Patra also landed on the US charts as a featured singer on the Shabba Ranks song, Family Affair, which hit number 84 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1994.
In 1995, she released a cover of Grace Jones’ Pull up to the Bumper which peaked at number 60 on the Hot 100, number 21 R&B, and number 15 on the Dance charts. Her second album, Scent of Attraction followed later that year, and peaked at number 151 on the Billboard 200, number 28 on the R&B/Hip Hop Albums, and number one on the Reggae charts. The Scent of Attraction title track which featured Aaron Hall peaked at number 82 on the Hot 100, and became Patra’s fourth Top 40 song peaking at number 31.