World of Jamaican Music

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An illustrated map of the creators of Jamaican music and how they are connected.

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Dillinger

Artist. Reggae, dancehall

Active
1973-present
Sunrise
June 25, 1953, Kingston, Jamaica
Also known as
Young Dillinger

Lester Bullocks, who deejays as Dillinger, told street-life tales, in Bradley's words, "with wit and invention," and produced two of what Bradley calls the greatest ever deejay albums.

He followed the El Paso sound as a youth, styling himself Young Alcapone, and began recording around 1971 for Lee Perry, who gave him the name after the American bank robber. He worked next for Coxsone Dodd and then, most productively, for Joseph "Jojo" Hoo Kim at Channel One, where the Revolutionaries were cutting the riddims he chatted over. The Rough Guide calls him "a deejay in the Big Youth mould," while for Bradley his style "owed plenty to U-Roy."

"Cokane in My Brain" (1976) is the record. It is built on a nonsense inventory of items on a table, delivered deadpan over a Channel One riddim, and it became a hit across Europe on the strength of the title. Dillinger has maintained the song was about Coca-Cola. The albums Ready Natty Dreadie (1975) and CB 200 (1976), the latter released internationally by Island, are the more substantial work, and Bionic Dread followed in 1976.

He appears in Rockers (1978) among the musicians surrounding the protagonist. He continued recording through the dancehall era and still performs, largely in Europe.

Last updated November 5, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. The Rough Guide gives his name as Lester Bullocks, born 1953 in Kingston. Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 158. Wikipedia gives Lester Randal Bullock, born June 25, 1953. "Dillinger (musician)," Wikipedia, accessed October 1, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dillinger_(musician).
  2. Bradley says he "told street-life tales with wit and invention." Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 304.
  3. The Rough Guide says he followed Dennis Alcapone's El Paso sound as a youth and "initially styled himself Young Alcapone before taking the name of another American gangster at the suggestion of Lee Perry," and lists two of his earliest records among Perry's productions. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 125, 129. Wikipedia names the gangster as John Dillinger. "Dillinger (musician)," Wikipedia. On Young Alcapone, Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 125.
  4. Bradley says he made Ready Natty Dreadie for Coxsone and CB 200 for Joe Joe Hookim. Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 304. The Rough Guide calls him "the most consistently popular of all the Channel's chatters," says he "jumped into the premier league" when put over the studio's hits, and lists Studio One, Lee Perry, Yabby You, Augustus Pablo, Bunny Lee, Winston Riley, Niney, Ossie Hibbert, and Joe Gibbs among his other producers. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 158-59.
  5. The Rough Guide calls him "a deejay in the Big Youth mould"; Bradley says his style "owed plenty to U-Roy." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 158; Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 304.
  6. The Rough Guide says it "was not the best track on the CB 200 album" but brought him new audiences in Europe and the US. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 159. Wikipedia says it reached number one in the Netherlands and number two in Belgium in 1977. "Cokane in My Brain," Wikipedia, accessed October 1, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cokane_in_My_Brain.
  7. Wikipedia says Hoo Kim built the track from samples of People's Choice's "Do It Any Way You Wanna" and Enoch Light's "Hijack." "Cokane in My Brain," Wikipedia.
  8. Bradley calls Ready Natty Dreadie and CB 200 "two of the greatest ever deejay albums" and says CB 200 "was practically compulsory for anybody at university in Great Britain in the second half of the 1970s." Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 304, 447. The Rough Guide lists CB 200 on Island's Mango label. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 158. Wikipedia dates Ready Natty Dreadie to 1975, CB 200 to 1976, and Bionic Dread (Black Swan) to 1976. "Dillinger (musician)," Wikipedia.
  9. Wikipedia says he appears in Ted Bafaloukos's Rockers, which also uses his "Stumbling Block." "Dillinger (musician)," Wikipedia.
  10. Wikipedia says he toured internationally with Trinity and Ranking Joe in 2000 and with Yellowman in 2014. "Dillinger (musician)," Wikipedia.

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