Cocoa Tea was one of reggae’s smoothest and most enduring
voices, a singer whose laid-back delivery and conscious lyrics
helped bridge the gap between roots reggae and the harder edge of
dancehall. Born Colvin George Scott in Rocky Point, Clarendon,
Jamaica, in 1959, he first entered music as a teenager with
“Searching In The Hills” in 1974, then stepped away for a time to
work as a jockey and fisherman before returning to the sound
systems that shaped so many Jamaican careers. That grounding gave
his singing a natural ease: warm, melodic, and instantly
recognisable.
He began making a wider name for himself in the mid-1980s after
linking with producer Henry “Junjo” Lawes. Songs like “Rocking
Dolly” and “I Lost My Sonia” established him as a major new voice,
and the 1985 album Weh Dem A Go Do… Can’t Stop Cocoa Tea captured
that early surge. He went on to cut key sides for King Jammy and
other heavyweight producers, including “Tune In,” “Settle Down,”
and the widely loved “Young Lover,” while collaborations such as
Holding On with Home T and Shabba Ranks showed how well his style
could sit beside other dancehall voices without losing its gentler
character.
Cocoa Tea’s biggest records carried a message as well as a melody.
“Rikers Island” became one of his signature songs, using a prison
theme to speak to young listeners, and it helped broaden his reach
well beyond Jamaica. Through the 1990s he kept releasing strong
material, including “Good Life” and “Israel King,” while his
versions of familiar songs and his ease with lovers rock, roots,
and dancehall kept him in demand across labels and continents. His
catalogue also included albums such as The Marshall and Come Again,
and his name stayed active in reggae collections and riddim culture
for decades.
He later formed Roaring Lion Records and continued recording and
performing into the 2000s and beyond, remaining a respected elder
with a catalogue that never depended on one era alone. Even in
later years, songs like “Barack Obama” and ongoing appearances on
compilations and sound-system projects showed how naturally his
voice fit both classic and contemporary reggae settings. Cocoa Tea
died in 2025, but his music remains tied to the sound of modern
Jamaican reggae at its most melodic, thoughtful, and enduring.
