In a di Red

One of the dancehall era's most beloved singers, Cocoa Tea reasserted the primacy of vocalists in soundsystem culture at a time when they were being elbowed aside by swift-tongued DJs. Tea’s approach combined the soul-drenched falsetto of foundation singers like Cornell Campbell with the flowing cadences of streetcorner DJs. This unbeatable combination of styles propelled Tea to the front rank of Jamaican singers and lent power to early hits like “The Marshall” and “Riker’s Island.” Tea’s near-uninterrupted output since the early ‘80s is testament to his tireless work ethic, and his work remains remarkably consistent. 2012’s In a Di Red is Tea’s first full-length since the triumphant Yes We Can captured the minds of Jamaican Obama supporters in 2008. Though not as infectiously celebratory as Yes We Can, In a Di Red is arguably the better album, finding Tea riding a set of classic rhythms like the nyabinghi-inflected “Beat Your Drum” and the hard rub-a-dub of “Poverty Line,” a furious indictment of rising government spending on law enforcement in the face of steeply escalating poverty levels among average Jamaicans.