Stephen Hayles Jnr is a phenomenal entertainer and musical connoisseur, but he’s more popularly known
as Ali Patch, the DJ. His signature patch over his right eye makes him easily recognizable in any crowd
or on any stage, spinning all genres of music for every age. Many have asked, “Why the patch? Is it for
fashion? Did he lose an eye?” Well, Ali Patch is a cancer survivor and the battle with the disease at age 3
in his eye is what makes him such a fighter in life today.
Born in St. Andrew, in the beautiful island of Jamaica, Ali grew up in the Duhaney Park community with
his parents and 11 siblings since his birth on June 7, 1982. A home filled with music, Ali was sure to end
up in the business, no matter his career choice. He even attended Meadowbrook High School alongside
classmate Sheldon Lawrence, now known as Aidonia. His main influence came from his father Stephen
Hayles Snr, whom everyone knows better by the moniker Father Bunny and as a former owner of top
sound system Bass Odyssey.
Ali was taught by his father to play 45’s and LP’s on Bass Odyssey’s sound system since the tender age
of 8 years old. He was very small so he had to stand on crates to reach the turntables back then. By
the time he turned 14, Ali was playing his father’s sound system professionally and was also hired to
work in Aquarius Records, which was owned by his family as well. After high school, Ali enrolled in a
studio engineering course at Celestial Sounds (Kings of Kings Studio) where he mastered the art of music
production, editing and remixing. He was so good at the craft that his teacher, Stephen Ventura, made
him an apprentice to Cordel “Skatta” Burrell and even assisted with the productions of some classic
dancehall tracks like Capleton’s “Crazy Look” and Cecile’s “Changes”. However, a rift between Father
Bunny and the other owners of Bass Odyssey caused a split in Bass Odyssey in 1995 and the sound
became known as Bass Odyssey The Next Generation, with Ali being it’s youngest DJ.
He was able to tour the world playing for Bass Odyssey The Next Generation to places like the US, Canada,
Japan, Guyana, Belize and other Caribbean islands like Antigua, Bahamas, St Kitts, Barbados,
Cayman Islands, Martinique, Trinidad and Tobago several times. Ali has even helped Bass Odyssey The
Next Generation earn the title of clash champion in many sound clashes with the most memorable ones
being in Trinidad versus the defending champions Black Kat, who had previously won 3 consecutive world
clashes in 2003 and the other in Guyana to defend their title in 2005 against Trinidad’s then number 1
sound called Matsimela.
Soon thereafter, sound clashes were beginning to get fewer in numbers so Ali teamed up with his younger
brother, DJ Kitt, to tackle a different avenue in the music business by forming TNG Muzik. Party sound
systems were vastly growing, therefore Ali knew that in order to drop the stigma of being a clashing
sound, they had to show their versatility by promoting TNG Muzik to a different crowd, mainly from
the uptown sections of Kingston, Jamaica.
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