“The sounds inside Lee Scratch Perry’s head changed the world. Reggae and Rap wouldn’t exist without him.” -Jay Bulger, Rolling Stone
He’s the Salvador Dali of music. He’s a mystery. He knows how to inspire the artist’s soul. Scratch is a shaman.” - Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones
The Upsetter tells the wild, weed-fueled story of Lee Scratch Perry - a visionary Jamaican musician, artist and all around madman - who burst upon the Kingston scene in the ‘50s with a brand new sound, inventing a genre of music that would come to be called Reggae. He went on to discover a young Bob Marley and gained international recognition as a solo artist and record producer, working with pioneering artists like the Heptones and the Congos. Soon he was being called upon by artists as diverse as The Clash and Paul McCartney to provide his unique sound. Narrated by Benicio Del Toro, the film captures the essence of a complex, enigmatic figure who was at once a mad genius and a mystic.