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The story of the life of Marvin 'Rum Roy' Perry, son of famous musician/producer Lee 'Scratch' Perry, seems to be one penned for a hit song.
He moved from a happy home with his wife and kids (due to personal issues) to living as a homeless person on the streets of New Kingston and now has become a singer on the rise.
Giving new meaning to the expression 'from the streets', Rum Roy lived behind the popular Quad nightclub in New Kingston until over a month ago when he was discovered by producer Danny Champagne.
THE WEEKEND STAR recently sat down with Rum Roy at the studio of Champagne, as he described his life story and how he came to be living on the streets of Kingston and how that translates to his music.
Growing up around music, Rum Roy was always close to his father Lee 'Scratch' Perry, who allowed his children to learn music through practising at his home studio in Washington Gardens. Working as a pianist for the Wailer's band when he was younger, Rum Roy, alongside his two other siblings, released a number of songs in the '80s.
<span style="font-weight: bold">However, Rum Roy's luck began to turn for the worse when he got married and later found his wife in bed with another artiste</span>. <span style="font-weight: bold">Leaving his home </span>and his children, Rum Roy headed back to the studio which eventually burnt down, leaving him to wander the streets, doing a number of odd jobs.
According to Rum Roy, he and his father, who was aware of his position, still maintain a good relationship, even though they haven't spoken since last year. After living on the streets for years, Rum Roy got a ticket back into the music business through Danny Champagne.
Champagne explained: "I go to Quad and Asylum fairly often and saw him always washing cars and I used to talk to him normally. I found out he was Lee 'Scratch' Perry's son and spoke to him about it. One night, I went over and I was playing a rhythm in my car, he said to me to play it back and he started to vibe on it. He did about five different tracks on the same rhythm. I came back, got him a place, got him some clothes, food, made sure that he had no chance to go back to the life on the streets."
Already Rum Roy has recorded 15 songs including Story Of My Life, written by Champagne about Rum Roy's life. The song has even started to get rotation on radio.
In Story of My Life Rum Roy sings: "This is the story of my life/ I lost my three kids and my wife right in the middle of the night/life in the street is not easy/ sometimes it's cold and too breezy. Mi haffi sleep on di cold concrete/Mi haffi hide when gunshot a beat/ dem a treat mi like mi nuh human/ like mi nuh have no feelings and emotions/this is how dem treat the less fortunate/dem always a tek wha wi fi get."
Rum Roy says: "The majority of my music have a message in it if yuh listen good. It's autobiographical, you can hear the tragedy to uplift your weakness and to make something out of nothing."
Champagne says a number of musical officials have expressed interest in the singer who he describes as the next Bob Marley, and there is a possibility that he will appear on this year's Reggae Sumfest.
For the singer, he is hoping to reconnect with his children, his father and the rest of his family.
"<span style="font-weight: bold">My father lef the house to me but mi just nuh go back there</span>. He is so busy, he hardly comes to Jamaica, he's a man of talent who mi learn a lot of techniques from," Rum Roy said.
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