Patra (born Dorothy Smith, 22 November 1972, Kingston, Jamaica)
is a reggae singer. In her beginnings as a Female Dancehall deejay
in the late 1980s, she used the stage name, Lady Patra. She first
made an impression on the US charts as a featured singer on the
Shabba Ranks song, "Family Affair," which hit #84 on
the Billboard Hot 100 in 1994.
Her first solo recording, "Worker Man", peaked at #53
later that year on the Hot 100, reached the Top 20 on the R&B
chart and #1 on the U.S. Dance chart. Her second single, "Romantic
Call" (#55 U.S., #21 U.S. Dance), was a collaboration with emcee
Yo-Yo. Her debut album Queen of The Pack (#1 on the Reggae albums
chart) also featured the hit single, "Think (About It)" (#21
U.S. Rap, #89 U.S. R&B). Her second album, Scent of Attraction,
sold slightly less but still reached #2 on the Reggae albums chart.
The biggest hit was her cover of Grace Jones's "Pull Up to the
Bumper" (#60 U.S.) and the title track, featuring R&B musician
Aaron Hall (#82 U.S.)
Patra also performed on the 1995 Panther movie soundtrack with the
song "Freedom (Theme from Panther)," a collaboration between
the American music industry's leading urban female vocalists. She
also performed on C+C Music Factory's remix of its hit single "Take
a Toke" that same year.
More recently Patra featured on the Two Culture Clash project in
2004, where she was featured on the album’s lead single, "How
Do You Love," featuring fellow reggae artist, Danny English.
Patra is currently in the Bahamas recording her album, 'Changes',
and under new management of the Box 10 Entertainment Group, which
is headed by long time friend and roadie Dawn Simpson.
Discography
Albums
Queen of the Pack (1993)
Scent of Attraction (1995)
The Great Escape (2003)
Where I've Been (2005)
Singles
Year Title Chart Positions Album
US Billboard Hot 100 US R&B US Rap US Dance
1993 "Think (About It)" – 89 21 – Queen of
the Pack
1994 "Worker Man" 53 20 5 1 Queen of the Pack
1994 "Romantic Call" 55 35 9 21 Queen of the Pack
1995 "Pull Up to the Bumper" 60 21 – 15 Scent of
Attraction
1996 "Scent of Attraction" 82 31 – – Scent
of Attraction
Soundtracks
1996: The Associate (on "Are You Ready for Me")