Jamaican singer Cocoa Tea, whose celebrated career blurred the divide between roots reggae’s righteous convictions and dancehall’s feel-good ethos, passed away on March 11 at age 65 in a hospital in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Cocoa Tea’s wife, Malvia Scott, speaking to Jamaican newspaper The Gleaner, said the cause of his death was cardiac arrest, which followed his diagnosis of lymphoma in 2019 and a recent six-month battle with pneumonia.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s Cocoa Tea released a plethora of popular songs, characterized by his pristine, honey-toned vocals and the timelessness of his lyrics, which alternated between romantic, religious and reality themes. Decades after these songs were released, Cocoa Tea remained an in-demand act on reggae festivals throughout the U.S., Europe and the Caribbean. Cocoa Tea’s final performance was aboard Damian Marley’s Welcome to Jamrock Reggae Cruise in 2022. “We were honored to have Cocoa Tea perform on the Welcome to Jamrock Cruise more than once; he was one of reggae’s sweetest voices and always left the audience smiling. Cocoa Tea was an original, top class, whether on stage or on record; he will truly be missed, but his music will live on forever,” Dan Dalton, Damian Marley’s manager and co-founder of the Welcome to Jamrock cruise, told Billboard.
Born Colvin George Scott in the rural fishing village of Rocky Point, Clarendon, Jamaica, he released his first single, “Searching in the Hills,” in 1974. When that single stalled, he trained to become a racehorse jockey, and later worked as a fisherman, while honing his vocal craft on local sound systems. In 1983 he met Henry “Junjo” Lawes, who produced his initial hits “Rocking Dolly” and “I Lost My Sonia.”
Cocoa Tea’s exquisite tenor effortlessly conveyed romantic musings (“Love Me Truly,” “She Loves Me Now”) and as a Rastafarian, he also delivered stirring spiritual convictions (“Holy Mount Zion,” “Israel’s King”) and uncompromising commentaries: “Oil Ting,” which opposed the first Gulf War, was banned from radio in Jamaica and the U.K., and his 1997 single “New Immigration Law” sounds like a statement on the current political climate in the U.S.
His songs have been sampled by artists ranging from 2Pac to Joss Stone to The 1975. His 2008 song honoring the first Black president of the United States, “Barack Obama,” released on his own Roaring Lion imprint, garnered international attention; in recent interviews Cocoa Tea expressed disappointment in Obama’s unwillingness to pardon Jamaica-born pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey.
Although short in stature, Cocoa Tea was a musical giant with a remarkable ability to adapt to dancehall/reggae’s shifting soundscapes while retaining his distinctive musical identity. Here are 10 crucial Cocoa Tea cuts.
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“Moving On” (1996)
Produced by Bobby “Digital” Dixon and recorded on the powerful Black Woman & Child Riddim, “Moving On” is a mobilizing cry for unity throughout the African diaspora and beyond: “You’re a Black man living in Jamaica, they’ll call you Afro-Jamaican, but we’re not worried about race, color, class nor your creed, neither your nationality as long as you are living in peace, love, and harmony, well that’s good enough for me, cause we’re moving on.”
On June 10, 2020, as protests proliferated around the world calling for justice in the death of George Floyd, Cocoa Tea released a lyric video for “Moving On.” The song’s enduring message of solidarity sounds as if it was written to soundtrack the Black Lives Matter movement, another example of the prescience in Cocoa Tea’s words and the healing power of his music. Listen here.
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“Good Life” (1993)
Cocoa Tea silky, supple vocals detail the struggles of a woman whose been through failed relationships and now wants to live without stress, summed up by the lyrics, “She want a good life, no man to cause her pain and strife.” With Sly & Robbie and the Firehouse Crew beautifully recreating the classic 1967 Studio One riddim Party Time under the production of Burrell, “Good Life” is a lovers rock gem with a storyline that will resonate throughout time, especially among female music fans. Listen here.
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“Pirates’ Anthem (12” Mix)” feat. Shabba Ranks and Home T (1988)
“Dem a call us pirates, illegal broadcasters, just because we play what the people want.” Recorded in Jamaica at a time when the Department of Trade and Industry in England was shutting down various pirate radio stations that were significant platforms for reggae and dancehall culture, the song’s topical theme (suggested by producer Augustus “Gussie” Clarke) and the sublime vocal interplay between Cocoa Tea, singer Home T and gruff voiced superstar deejay Shabba Ranks proved to be an irresistible hit-making combination, especially when set to a bass-thumping beat, embellished with echo and reverb. Listen here.
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“I Lost My Sonia” (1983)
Cocoa Tea’s tale of romantic heartbreak is contrasted by his upbeat scat singing over a popular early 1980s dancehall riddim, Diseases (producer Henry “Junjo” Lawes’ remake of a 1967 beat called the Mad Mad) just prior to Jamaican music’s digital revolution. Cocoa Tea candidly bemoans his beloved Sonia’s departure with another man, but it’s unclear if he’s done anything to hasten her exit. Listen here.
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“Hurry Up & Come” (1995)
The clarion call for Rastas and all people of good intent to exit Babylon before it’s too late is heightened by the urgency in Cocoa Tea’s vocals, his dulcet, welcoming tone and a shimmering, uptempo reggae rhythm, produced by Phillip “Fatis” Burrell. “Hurry Up & Come” is an anthem for rallying spiritual strength during tough times: “Jah promised to strengthen the weak and give sight to the blind/Don’t matter what the oppressors do inna this yah Armageddon time, ooh yes, Rasta is here to conquer all trials and tribulations/So, pack your little grip and come, let’s leave out of Babylon.” Listen here.
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“Tune In” (1986)
Cocoa Tea originally wrote “Tune In” as a special (a customized recording not for commercial release) for a Canadian sound system. However, when King Jammy heard it, he insisted the song be issued as a single. The sweetly rocking tempo is ideally suited to Cocoa Tea’s cool, laid-back approach and his expansion of the word “in” to five syllables created a dancehall classic. Like “Come Again,” “Tune In” revels in the dancehall experience and acknowledges the music’s burgeoning international appeal: “Watch di posses outta England and di one dem from America, even those from a Japan enjoying themselves”; “Watch di one dem outta Germany (skanking) and di one dem outta Canada (rocking), even those in Somalia enjoying themselves.” Listen here.
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“Come Again” (1986)
Borrowing the melody from the Christmas ditty “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town,” “Come Again” celebrates the sights, sounds, energy and of course the music of the Jamaican dancehall. Cocoa Tea’s scat inflected, effervescent vocals deliver an odd yet delightful lyrical smorgasbord, from his refusal to reveal any secrets to his friends, to calling for a proper vocal mix over the crisp early digital Cat Paw riddim (produced by King Jammy) to disclosing his ultimate mission: “Cocoa Tea come fi keep dis a dancehall, yes, alive.” Mission accomplished. Listen here.
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“Young Lover” (1987)
“This one is designed for 18 and over” chants Cocoa Tea on the intro to “Young Lover” as he responsibly eschews the advances of an underage beauty, admonishing her actions as a means of protecting her innocence: “Hey girl, won’t you go home, go home to your mamma, your mamma, go home to your pappa, your pappa, you’re too young to be my lover.”
Utilizing a bubbling backbeat with a cheerful keyboard line, Cocoa Tea’s engaging delivery powers the significant sentiment expressed in “Young Lover.” At a time when the exploitation of underage girls continues, the song’s overall message needs to be put on repeat and played loudly. Listen here.
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“Holy Mount Zion” (1995)
The quintessential riddim of Jamaica’s mid-1990s Rasta renaissance in dancehall reggae was the Kette Drum, produced by the late Bobby “Digital” Dixon and named after the West African hand-held instrument heard at Rastafarian Nyabinghi celebrations. Over that majestic backbeat, anchored in meditative drumming and embellished by acoustic-guitar strums, Cocoa Tea laid down a stunning, impassioned affirmation of his Rastafari way of life. “Holy Mount Zion” offers a rejection of the corrupt Babylon system and an intention to repatriate to Zion — that is Ethiopia, Rastafari’s ancestral homeland — and ranks alongside any classic made during roots reggae’s 1970s golden era. Listen here.
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“Rikers Island” (1990)
In 1975, Jamaican singer John Holt’s hit “Up Park Camp” issued a stern warning to the youths to stay out of trouble and avoid being sent to the Kingston detention center, Up Park Camp (Gun Court). In 1991 Cocoa Tea transformed the song into a cautionary tale instructing young Jamaicans living in the New York City area not to “skylark” (waste time) but “learn a trade or go to school,” otherwise, you might end up at “Rikers Island.” Said to be inspired by Henry “Junjo” Lawes’ incarceration at the notorious jail complex, Cocoa Tea’s compelling narration of various actions undertaken by individuals who pursued criminal exploits, over a spirited riddim track created by Steely & Clevie and produced by Cargill “Mr. Doo” Lawrence, found an audience beyond reggae and further elevated the singer’s career. Listen here.
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