Tippa Lee was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. He started performing on his fathers Sound System as a child, standing up on a beer bottle box to reach the mic. He made his first recordings at King Tubby​’​s studio at the age of 12. Eventually he teamed up with Rappa Robert and as a duo had a number of hits including “No Trouble We”, an anthemic statement against police harassment, which was a number one Jamaican hit in 1988 and is still played often on Jamaican radio. In more recent years he has been based in the US, performing live and releasing his own underground CDs.