Dorothy Smith November 22 1972 Kingston, Jamaica,
As a female dancehall deejay in the late 1980s, she used the stage name Lady Patra. Patra made her US chart debut with the Shabba Ranks song, “Family Affair”, which reached No. 84 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1994. In 1993, Patra released her debut album, Queen of The Pack (#1 on the Reggae albums chart). In 1993, “Think (About It)” peaked at #21 on the Billboard Rap Singles chart and #89 on R&B. Her follow-up single “Worker Man” reached #53 on the Hot 100[6], the Top 20 on R&B and #1 on the US Dance chart.[8] The album’s third and final single, “Romantic Call” (#55 U.S.,[6] #21 U.S. Dance), is a collaboration with emcee Yo-Yo.
In 1995, Patra released her single “Pull Up to the Bumper” which was a remake of the Grace Jones song and peaked at #60 on the Hot 100, #21 on R&B, and #15n the Dance chart. Her second album, Scent of Attraction followed later that year. It peaked at #151 on the Billboard 200, #28 on the R&B/Hip Hop Albums, and #2 on the Reggae charts. The set’s single, “Scent of Attraction” featuring R&B musician Aaron Hall topped at #82 on the Hot 100,[citation needed] and became her fourth Top 40 R&B hit. “Dip and Fall Back” was also released as a single off the album but failed to chart.
Among the American music industry’s leading urban female vocalists, Patra also sang “Freedom (Theme from Panther)” on the 1995 Panther movie soundtrack. C+C Music Factory also remixed its hit song “Take a Toke” that year. After a few years to spend time with her family, she released her third studio album The Great Escape in 2003, followed by the single “Pressure Me.” In 2007, she appeared on Two Cultures Slash, where she co-wrote “How Do You Love” with Danny English, a reggae artist. The independent record label, Wall Street Entertainment, released Where I’ve Been, her fourth studio album, preceded by the single “Man Dem Thriller” in 2005. There was also a follow-up track, “Black Cinderella”.
Soon after, Patra took some time off from the music industry, becoming more spiritually connected to God and completing a Bachelor’s degree in history and political science. The following year, she performed a series of concerts and interviews, and started working on her fifth studio album with Rich Nice, an A&R executive/producer. Before the album’s first single, “Come Ova” (featuring Delus), she dropped a buzz track, “Bad Inna Bed”. Among other things, the video premiered on YouTube on August 24, 2012. She released a brand-new single, “Sweet Reggae Music,” in April 2013 from the album (now called Patra: The Continuation).[13] The album was released on February 18, 2014.