About Sugar Minott

Sugar Minott (born Lincoln Barrington Minott, May 25, 1956 in Kingston, died Saturday July 10, 2010 in Kingston) was a jamaican reggae singer, producer and sound-system operator known for his sweet roots dancehall style. Sugar Minott spent his youth hanging around the legendary "Studio 1" listening to the artists that recorded there, such as Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe, The Heptones, Dennis Brown and others. Sugar began his career with the formation of the African Brothers, along with Tony Tuff and Derek Howard (and later Triston Palmer) in the early 1970s. The African Brothers were a harmonious roots act, of which Sugar became the most popular member. By 1979, Sugar had been invited by Studio 1 to record a solo album. When recording at Studio 1, he chose not to use a backing band as in conventional recording, but elected to sing over instrumental versions of old Studio 1 classics. This is considered to be the birth of "dancehall," which lead to countless artists making new hits out of old classics, a tradition that continues in Jamaica today. Sugar was also well-regarded for hard work on his Youthman Promotion sound system and Black Roots & Youthman Promotion labels into the 1980s, which brought forth such artists as Tenor Saw, Nitty Gritty, Yami Bolo, Junior Reid, Tony Rebel, Garnett Silk, and many more to the industry. Up until his death, he was still working with young artists both in Jamaica and the US, including his daughter Pashon Minott.