VETERAN ARTIST COCOA TEA HAS DIED

Veteran reggae singjay Cocoa Tea, born Calvin Scott is dead. His wife, Malvia Scott, confirmed to The Gleaner that the veteran singer passed away at 4:46am on Tuesday, March 11 at a hospital in Broward County, Ft Lauderdale, Florida, following a cardiac arrest.

Scott, who was born on September 3, in Rocky Point, Clarendon, first garnered exposure by singing on church and school choirs. He earned his stage name, because of his love for hot cocoa tea.

He released his first song, "Searching In The Hills," in 1974 and from there went on to become a major star in the reggae genre. He exploded as an artist in the 1980s and earned international acclaim with reggae anthems like "Lost My Sonia," "Tune In" and "Rocking Dolly."

He became a devoted rastafarian in 1985. His Rastafarian faith was reflected in his hardhiting cultural songs that included crowd favourites like "Settle Down,'' "Don't Be Shy"," Too Much Fussing And Fighting" and "I've Gotta Love You." He made his mark as a consistent hitmaker with songs like "Tune In," "Crying Time," "Must Unite" and "Come Again," which he recorded for King Jammy's, on the album "Settle Down".

Cocoa Tea scored with several other singles including ''Bust Outta Hell'' and ''Kingston Hot" that was recorded for producer Junjo Lawes of the Volcano Record label. He also garnered international fame for a song about then Presidential candidate Barack Obama which was released in 2008. The video and song were featured on CNN, The New York Times and other news platforms.

That year, based on the success of “Barack Obama,“ the reggae legend was added to the line-up of Reggae entertainers for a benefit concert in NY at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Art that Team Jamaica hosted billed as "On the Road to Beijing Olympics.' Funds raised from the event assisted Jamaican athletes including Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Veronica Campbell-Brown who represented Jamaica in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Irwine Clare Sn, Founder of Team Jamaica Bickle Inc. (TJB), a US based philanthropist organization that provides hospitality service to Jamaican and Caribbean athletes at the illustrious Penn Relays Carnival and organiser of the 2008 'Road To Beijing' concert told Riddim Style Magazine, "We have lost one of the true pillars of Reggae Music whose ability to utilize his craft to champion the cry of a people for justice.

He was not just an entertainer but an 'edutainer' who gave of himself through his music that will live on as a rallying cry in the continued fight for our people’s freedom," he shared.

Other popular songs from the rastafarian sinjay included "Rikers Island," that hit No.1 in New York and the U.K. Other hit singles included "One Woman Show," and the controversial "Oil Ting"-that was done about the War in the Middle East. The song was eventually banned in the UK. "Oil Ting" was followed by "No Blood For Oil,'' and ''Ruling Cowboy.''

Aside from music, Cocoa Tea was a racehorse jockey who loved fishing. He was 65 years old at the time of his death.