Cocoa Tea

Cocoa Tea, born Colvin George Scott on September 3, 1959, in Rocky Point, Clarendon Parish, Jamaica, entered the music business at just 14 years old, releasing "Searching in the Hills" for Willie Francis's label in 1974. After early setbacks he worked as a jockey and fisherman while performing on Jamaican sound systems, gradually building toward a professional career.

He rose to prominence in the 1980s, becoming one of Jamaica's most popular singers, with a cool, laid-back tone especially suited to sweet, smooth lovers rock. He found major success through producer Henry 'Junjo' Lawes's Volcano label beginning in 1984 with "Rocking Dolly" and "I Lost My Sonia," and continued working through the late 1980s and 1990s with top producers including King Jammy, Gussie Clarke, Fatis Burrell, and Bobby Digital. His 1990 single "Rikers Island," a poignant reflection on incarceration, became one of his defining songs.

In 1997 he founded Roaring Lion Records, which released material by artists including Buju Banton, Capleton, Cutty Ranks, and Sizzla. He drew renewed international attention in 2008 with "Barack Obama," a song supporting the US presidential candidate. Over a career spanning more than four decades, he released dozens of albums across labels including VP Records, Greensleeves, and RAS Records, among them Rocking Dolly (1984), I Lost My Sonia (1985), Rikers Island (1991), and Sunset in Negril (2014). He died on March 11, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at age 65.