Mad Professor

From its humble beginnings circa the '60s, dub has become one of the most influential subgenres in modern music, inspiring innovations in dance sounds, punk rock and countless other categories — and among contemporary practitioners of the art, no one's been better for longer than Mad Professor. Born Neal Fraser in the West Indies, the Prof began his recording career in the early '80s, and since then, he's steadily built upon the foundation laid by precursors such as Lee "Scratch" Perry with his Black Liberation Dub series and remixes that blend the organic, elemental feel of the earliest versions with electronic accoutrements. His profile is lower today than it was during the '90s, when the likes of Massive Attack and the Beastie Boys hired him to tinker with their tracks. But despite having just celebrated the 25th anniversary of Ariwa Sounds, his studio and record label, he remains as restlessly creative as ever. Mad Professor's experiments continue to be successful.