Born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, Johnny Ringo has been a Dancehall DJ since the 1980’s. Over the course of his career, he’s represented sound systems: Studio B. International, Road Star International, King Earthquake, Leo tech Hi Power, Katarock Sound and now Chinese Assassin.
Telling us about his earliest days with music, Ringo reminisced with us by sharing “from I was a youth growing up in Mona Heights, my brothers and some friends of mine decided to form a sound system by the name of Studio B. We were very young then and all we did was eat, drink, and sleep music. This was my introduction to the music world, both uptown parties and in the dance hall. Performing in both worlds was not the norm, so it was here I came to a crossroad where I had to choose if I wanted to remain uptown or go straight dancehall. My brother Bobby Chin and I decided we want to be Reggae / Dance hall selectors, and so we moved on to other sound systems.”
Further in his journey, Ringo met Mr. Trevor Levy who was the owner of Road Star Int’l, and after playing alongside them one night, was so impressed with the talent of the DJ that he asked if he would allow the young DJ to tour with them. The answer was yes, which began his career with the sound. “This was a good time for me as I was learning how to select and manage a true Dance hall sound. Playing for Road Star allowed me to compete with other sound systems, and we were very successful at this. I also gained most of my experience playing in the other parishes of Jamaica and mastering the art of being a sound clash selector. I loved playing for Road Star,Big ups to Quincy Jones and the rest of the crew.It was with this sound I got my first opportunity to play in another country. We went on tour in Canada to do a few shows in different cities.
Playing with Road Star led to King Earthquake a big sound out of Washington DC, which led to Leo Tech Hi Power. While Ringo built his experience, his youngest brother, Peter who was now living in Florida decided to launch his own sound. He started out doing a mixed CD’s, and after getting rave reviews, launched Chinese Assassin, the sound system. “I decided to move from New York and help him manage and run the sound” recalls Ringo. “Our mixed CD’s got so popular so fast that we started taking bookings to do parties and dances!”
Playing among some of the biggest names in the business, Chinese Assassins have played in countries Jamaica, Bermuda, Belize, Amsterdam, England, Canada, The Virgin Islands, Cayman Island,The Bahamas, Costa Rica and almost all of North America. Some of the sounds that we have performed with include: Black Chiney, Mighty Crown, Bass Odyssey, Katarock, Poison Dart, Renaissance, Code Red, Adonai and Foundation from Groningen, Holland. We also did a show with Byron Lee and the Dragonairs in the Bahamas which i will never forget as it was shortly after Byron Lee passed away. Always humble, Ringo says “I just want to say thanks to everybody who has given me an opportunity to develop my love and skills for playing music. Without music I don’t know what kind of person I would be. I still enjoy making people dance and delivering feel good vibes.My goal is to see talented young artistes get the exposure they truly need through Chinese Assassin. I will continue to play and teach music until the day I die! I am Johnny Ringo aka Chinese Assassin!”
