Patra Hails Janelle Monáe As An “Amazing Performer”
Dancehall veteran Patra was thrilled to learn that it was Janelle Monáe, who wanted to sample her 1993 song Whining Skill. The Queen of the Pack deejay made the disclosure in an Instagram post on Wednesday, hailing the American singer as an “amazing performer.”
The post read: “I was contacted a few months back by an agent who said someone very famous wanted to sample my song ‘Wining Skill’… Did not know who it was but found out that the person was actually one of my favorite females in the game… Amazing performer. Please check out ‘Waterslide’ @janellemonae She literally had me starting the song.”
As Patra pointed out, Monáe’s Water Slide features the Jamaican singer on the song’s intro (All a di girls dem, wine…) and at the intervals between the track’s recurring bass drop, echoing an altered version to the opening of Whining Skill.
Not only was Whining Skill sampled on the 10th track of Monáe’s recently released The Age Of Pleasure album, but it was coincidentally, the 10th track from Patra’s 1993 Gold-certified album, Queen of the Pack.
Water also sampled Sister Nancy’s Bam Bam.
Patra has been a trailblazer in Dancehall music. The 50-year-old legend was an electrifying force for Dancehall on the US music scene in her heyday, and once stood shoulders with music icons Tupac, as well as Mad Cobra and Shabba Ranks.
Queen of the Pack, Patra’s first of the two albums to achieve gold-selling status, came packed with a flurry of timeless hits for Dancehall lovers across the world. The album’s title track developed a cult following of its own, becoming nearly an instant classic upon release, while Worker Man and Romantic Call earned significant milestones of their own.
Patra has also engineered an enviable list of noteworthy collaborations, with her partnership with American rapper, Yo-Yo, being among them.
Patra’s innate ability to complement and elevate the works of her peers was further demonstrated when, in 1995, she embarked on covering Grace Jones’ hit song, Pull Up To The Bumper.
Later that same year, Patra unleashed her second studio album, Scent of Attraction.