Sugar Minott, 54, a smooth-voiced singer and producer who helped popularize reggae music, died Saturday, July 10, 2010 at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica, said Maxine Stowe, his wife. She did not disclose the cause of death, although a heart condition is suspected.

Lincoln Barrington “Sugar Minott (1956-2010)

(From sugarminott.com)

Veteran singer, songwriter, musician and producer Sugar Minott – born Lincoln Barrington Minott – from Kingston, Jamaica has been a driving force in pioneering the creation of reggae music. Contributing his indoctrination to the reggae music from growing up near a dancehall where some of the best sounds of the day used to play.

From this exposure he began to build a repertoire and entered talent contests like the Little Theatre Company. When finished school he began his journey in the music business selling records and playing in a sound named, Sound of Silence Keytone.

Sugar then started his own sound by the name of Black Roots which then led to the creation of Youthman 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 from the likes of 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”.

The group sprang up from the gathering at Delacree Rd. and Delamar Ave. corner, properly known as Tony Martin corner where many aspiring artists would mass. Due to strong cultural content of the lyrics the group did not receive the type of publicity it deserved so they all decided to pursue solo careers.

In 1974 Sugar teamed up with Ace producer Coxsone Dodd “Studio One”. Bringing the label back to life after the loss of John Holt, Ken Boothe, and Alton Ellis to other studio’s, His first hit for “studio One” was “Vanity” followed by “Mr DC”, “House is not a Home” and “Hang on Natty”, which led to his first solo album “Live Loving”.

In 1979 he left Studio One to form his own label – “Black Roots” which led to the foundation of the Youth Promotion crew, recoding artist’s like Little John, Triston Palmer, Barry Brown and Tony Tuff.

Youth Promotion started back in 1979, in the Maxfield park area of Kingston, Jamaica. Known as the Ghetto sound by the youths of the area. Started by Lincoln “Sugar” Minott the Veteran singer, songwriter, musician and producer. The sound system was the opportunity of the youths to be heard by the masses.

The Sound Youthman Promotion began to dominate the Dancehall scene by voicing artist’s like Junior Reid, Yami Bolo, Don Angelo, the lateTenor Saw, Nitty Gritty and Garnet Silk who did his first recording for the Black Roots Label. The list of Artists goes on – Tony Rebel, Colorman, Daddy Freddie, Johnny Osbourne, Steve “Shalom” Harper and many more.