Leslie Kong

Jamaican businessman and record producer

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July 16, 2026

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Leslie Kong was a significant Chinese-Jamaican businessman and record producer who played a crucial role in introducing reggae music to a global audience. Initially a restaurateur, Kong founded the Beverley's label. His productions were featured in the 1972 film The Harder They Come and he organized the session for Paul Simon's "Mother and Child Reunion". Kong's work, alongside other producers like Coxsone Dodd and Lee Perry, helped shape the distinctive sound of Jamaican music in the 1960s and 70s. His untimely death in 1971 left a void in the Jamaican music scene.1

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Kingston 1970s overview
But Chinese-Jamaican businessman Leslie Kong, a former restaurateur, with his Beverley’s label, was initially more successful. His productions dominated the movie The Harder They Come (1972), and he organized Paul Simon’s “Mother and Child Reunion” session, which between them more or less introduced reggae to the world at…
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But Chinese-Jamaican businessman Leslie Kong, a former restaurateur, with his Beverley’s label, was initially more successful. His productions dominated the movie The Harder They Come (1972), and he organized Paul Simon’s “Mother and Child Reunion” session, which between them more or less introduced reggae to the world at…
Read More

Toots and the Maytals
In 1968, with Leslie Kong as the producer, the Maytals released their first recording in the emerging style of reggae, “54-46 (That’s My Number).” A pumping, frantic account of Hibbert’s term in prison on a marijuana charge, it is considered one of reggae’s greatest songs. Subsequent hits included…
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In 1968, with Leslie Kong as the producer, the Maytals released their first recording in the emerging style of reggae, “54-46 (That’s My Number).” A pumping, frantic account of Hibbert’s term in prison on a marijuana charge, it is considered one of reggae’s greatest songs. Subsequent hits included…
Read More