Sugar Minott

Sugar Minott was born Lincoln Barrington Minott on May 25, 1956 in Kingston Jamaica, and as one of my favourite artists has been a driving force and pioneer of the rub-a-dub and dancehall styles.
He lived and grew up in the Mayfield Avenue district of Kingston, which was home to many of the top dancehalls.
As a boy he grew up idolizing, as many did, the works of Studio One originator Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd and Treasure Isle Studio producer Duke Reid. From this exposure he began to build a repertoire and started entering talent contests like the Little Theatre Company. When he finished school he went straight into the music business selling records and playing in a sound system named, Sound of Silence Keytone. Sugar then decided to start his own system by the name of Black Roots which then led to the creation of Youth Promotion. In 1969 Sugar teamed up with Tony Tuff and Derrick Howard and formed the group the African Brothers. Tony was the lead singer and they recorded for Micron Music which was run by Mick Johnson and Ronny Burke of Sunsplash fame. The group then recorded for other producers the likes of which were, Keith Weston, Winston "Marrytone" Blake, Rupie Edwards and Coxsone Dodd. Some of the releases were "Lead us Father", Mystery of Nature", Party Time" and "Righteous Kingdom". Due to strong cultural content of the lyrics the group did not receive the type of publicity it deserved and this led them to split and pursue solo careers.

In 1974 Sugar Minott teamed up again with Coxsone Dodd and Sugar was responsible for reviving Studio One to its rightful status following the loss of singers like John Holt, Ken Boothe, and Alton Ellis to other studios of the day. The first hit for Studio One by Sugar was "Vanity" and songs like "House is Not a Home”, “Hang on Natty” and “Mr. D.C.”, which led to his first solo album, entitled "Live Loving". He continued to work with Studio One until 1979 when he left and created his own label Black Roots which led to the foundation of the Youth Promotion Crew. Some of the artists that were recorded at this time were Little John, Barry Brown, Triston Palma and Tony Tuff.

Based out of Maxfield Park Square Sugar’s Youth Promotion continued to dominate the competitive reggae scene by voicing young artists like Junior Reid, Yami Bolo, Don Angelo, Steely as well as the late Tenor Saw, Nitty Gritty, Colourman and the Archangel Garnett Silk who did his first recording there. From 1979 to 1981 Sugar had already attained international notoriety and had toured in the US and England and is credited to the development of lovers rock by the release of his album "Music For The Root Lovers" which became an instant success with his English audience. Following this he had a hit with "Good Thing Going", a Jackson 5 cover which went to #2 on the British charts. While Sugar was in England he continued to develop the Youth Promotion and formed the Black Roots Players. Furthermore he was responsible for discovering the musical group Musical Youth. He also did work with Carl Thompson and Bertie Grant the engineer of UB40.

Sugar had much success with his Black Roots label and helped to develop some popular labels in Jamaica such as Channel One where he recorded the hits "No Vacancy", the classic "Herbman Hustling" and "Devil Pickney" with Sly and Robbie. From works done with George "Powerhouse" Phang, Phillip "Xterminator" Burrell, Donovan "Penthouse" Germain, Top Ranking, Tubby's, Jammys, Tappa Zukie, Bobby "Digital" Dixon and Bullwackies out of New York the new style, known as the singjay dancehall, emerged. The sounds that made this popular where those of U Roy, King Stereograph, King Tubbys, right up to Stone Love. Along with Barry Brown he toured the dance halls and thus emerged the current trend that is seen today in Jamaica.

In 1984 Sugar Minott took reggae music to Japan. Along with the late great Bob Marley, Sugar was the only one who had done this and helped to promote reggae music to the Japanese. From this he produced the first Japanese reggae star Naki. Sugar Minott remains a favourite among the Japanese people working with companies such as Takian and performing at major concerts like Japansplash.

Sugar Minott's musical influence comes from people like Nat King Cole, Sam Cooke and Johnny Mathis and most importantly Ken Boothe, Alton Ellis and Dennis Brown. He has various styles that he sings such as lovers rock, dancehall and roots & reality. Credit to his career he has over 60 albums and thousands of 45's, of which 27 of the albums he has produced. Presently Sugar Minott has established a base at 1 Robert Crescent, Kingston 5 Jamaica with Youth Promotion Music Center and Black Roots Production Co. Ltd. Specializing in recording production - studio facilities include 8 to 24 track - record distribution, rehearsal facilities and music school where aspiring youths from all areas whether the country or the town can come and realize their aspiration in the reggae journey as him.

-