ORLANDO, Fla. – Growing up in a strong musical family, Willy Chin got his start in the music world at a young age working for his uncle’s sound store — Light and Sound Equipment in Miami.
“That became a record store and would rent sound (equipment) so I remember at 10,11,12 years old with the speakers on the back of the truck, helping them unload the speakers and stringing up the sound for a Beanie Man Concert,” Chin said. “I’m backstage and there was Beanie Man and Lady Saw performing I had no clue ya know, but I was there helping with the boxes and enjoying, absorbing everything.”
Supa Dups, the Grammy-winning producer and owner of Black Chiney Sound, is Chin’s first cousin who was instrumental in his future career. Growing up in the same house, Chin often found himself not only working with his cousin but inspired by him as well.
Check out every episode of Riff On This in the media player below:
“He had his turn tables and records everything set up in the house for me to play with, mess around with, while he’s gone and doesn’t know,” Chin said.
Sound systems are at the heart of dancehall.
“The speakers and the turntables were set up and would play the records in a hall people would dance in. That’s how it got the name dancehall,” Chin said.
Jamaican sound systems consisted of several key players. Each sound group needed a person to help lift the speaker box and another to wire it up. Other members consisted of a deejay that would use records, sometimes just one turntable so in order to make the music flow the group had a selector that would go through the records to give them to the deejay to play. Along with that, there’s the emcee talking while the other guy was switching records.
“It was a multitask job, but now with computers, it makes it easier for the evolution of selectors or sounds systems to be in a laptop a one-man show, but back then you needed a staff, a physical staff to make all that happen,” Chin said.
Chin soon became part of Black Chiney Sound alongside Supa Dups, Bonny Chin and Walshy Killa — a.k.a. Walshy Fire.
The group is known for their blend of dancehall music with hip-hop which helped bring dancehall music into mainstream America. Their iconic performances have been seen all over the world. Chin found himself in many historic Jamaican recording studios over the years and recounted what it felt like visiting Tuff Gong International in Kingston, which was founded by Bob Marley in 1965.
“It’s cool I could be in the places where some of the biggest songs and biggest artists were born and me also be a part of it. It’s cool to see history and be part of history,” Chin said.
Hear more about Chin’s music and the most memorable moments in his career on the latest episode of Riff On This.