The Strombo Show welcomed Lee “Scratch” Perry for a very rare, exclusive conversation with George Stroumboulopoulos that deeply reflects on his life, songs and legacy from Bob Marley to Kanye West to Beastie Boys and beyond. It is an intimate, in-depth conversation fueled by heart, marijuana, wine and his deep connection with music.
You can also check out Mr. Perry’s s exclusively curated playlist of his favourite songs via Apple Music and some behind the scenes photos courtesy of Vannesa Heins.
On Drake:
People like him, you’ll have to like him. Like we find again where people think he’s a puppet or a favourite, well lets have the Drake… I will like the Drake because the Drake is coming from a snake, and it can eat worm and still.
On Kanye West:
To get rich, sell his soul to, sell his mother’s soul sell his soul to get the American dollars that is going down. Why should I listen to somebody that so perfect and so imperfect and so stupid… I warn him sometimes, but I don’t need a jacket or um bulletproof, I’m not selling my soul and I don’t need no bulletproof jacket… And I don’t have a woman with a big botty, because I’m not afflicted by big botty. I’m not addicted to big botty, I’m not addicted to kin, big botty inside and big botty behind, I’m not addicted to girls with big botty in front and big botty behind.
On modern hip-hop:
I don’t hate it and I don’t like it. People praise themselves and can’t praise, a living God. They become anti-christ and people become anti-christ and sink their boat.
On veganism:
I used to be addicted to meat, I put meat away, put everything that is dead away, so I eat live vegetables and become alive. Live vegetable become real live and extremely healthy… When I listen to the words of God’s say to eat, thou shalt not kill. So if we killing something and eat it, you not look at your and look at yourself who do that. Thou shalt not kill, and we kill and eat the animal, then you deserve to be punished… When the animals start to cry and when the first people who started to complain were the trees. The herbs, the weed, the plants, the flowers, everything started to complain when they cut down the, they chop us down. Better to know something like that, the tree complain, and then the animals start to complain, they kill us and eat us… Don’t eat anything dead, just eat what is alive… The people with a clean heart. Eat vegetable, then they can tell apart me tell apart me right away and tell me what’s in their thoughts. Our rules are retaught, our real thoughts read hearts.
On God:
That my father will always be God’s name. God King man come and got King man come and got God will be done on earth which is in heaven.
On Haile Selassie:
I was there [when he came to Jamaica], he’s my twin. Everything I do is Selassie, and everything Selassie do I do it.
On Rastafarianism:
Rastafarian is my doctor. If I come here to do a job and Rastafari is not here with me, well what you doing job. With Rastafari we made to make music.
On Beastie Boys:
…have to love them. I have to love who love me. Who love me is a part of me.
On The Clash:
It was perfect the way it happened.
On his favourite music:
I always like American artists, and any artist that can touch me is maybe like, if it’s not Bob Marley then I’ll have to listen to Jamaican, then maybe Marley is a good grace or some like the song like you playing, Keith.. Keith and those guys. I’ll listen to soul music more so I believe in soul music… Otis Redding is my favourite.
On Bob Marley:
Him, he making more music and making own choice. His life and death. Make your choice. If you make your choice you don’t think about you or think about the people who love you, or you’re in big trouble.
On Family and Fans:
Family is your worst enemy. Because you they want to be you. Your family could be your worst enemy that always want to be you to replace you. Most of the people. The Royal family do that, the imperial family don’t do that. The Royal family want to have all the money and be on top. And the ones standing in the rear will have that one behead. Either be-head or have him unhead… My fans mean more to me then my family, my fans are not in competition my fans love me. My family want competition with me ‘how come you reach on top an I don’t reach on top?’ And I am his family, he bring another stranger and put the stranger on top and then put me on top of his family. And they hold a grudge against me.
On “the next life”:
I don’t think, if there’s a third life, I don’t think- I don’t know how to take in the second life, I’m holding onto my second life. I’m trying to hold onto my second wife… I’m not planning to get any older… I become baby again, “mommy daddy, mommy daddy- I want my mommy and I want my daddy”.
On his parents:
When my parents were two innocent people they didn’t know who they was, right? My mother was perfect but my father was stupid. So my mother is a God lover, my mother loved God to the heart… No my father is an idiot. Not my real father, my Godly father is perfect but my… my dead meat father dead. He was addicted to dead meat, he eat too much dead meat. And then he say, ‘I’ve been waiting for you my whole life, I thought you have the power to resist dead meat, you did not have the power to resist dead meat, Well I’ll start eating you from your feet, I start eating from your feet right up to the head’.
