Music
13 Mar 25

Reggae artist Colvin 'Cocoa Tea' Scott dead at 65

Cocoa Tea - Credit: Winston Rodney

"About three weeks ago when he was admitted in the hospital he asked if I was worried and I said 'I am always worried'," said the singer's wife, Malvia Scott. "He told me not to worry because everything was going to be all right. He was always very hopeful."

Influential Jamaican reggae artist Colvin 'Cocoa Tea' Scott has died at age 65.

The singer's wife, Malvia Scott, confirmed to Jamaican news outlet The Gleaner that Cocoa Tea died on March 11 at a hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, following cardiac arrest.

The singer had been diagnosed with lymphoma in 2019, and had been struggling with pneumonia in recent months.

"He was definitely very brave," said Malvia Scott. "He was positive throughout it all."

Cocoa Tea was born in Rocky Point, in Jamaica's Clarendon Parish in 1959.

He first became prominent in Jamaica during the 1980s, gaining an international audience through the '90s with songs like 'Rikers Island', which was later reworked into Nardo Ranks' dancehall track 'Me No Like Rikers Island'.

In 1997 Cocoa Tea launched his own record label, Roaring Lion, releasing both his own music and music from Buju Banton, Cutty Ranks, Sizzla and more.

One of his most popular songs, 'Barack Obama', released in 2008 as an endorsement of the then-candidate for the former US president.

"I am looking for the change that this man has articulated," Coco Tea said in an interview at the time. "I want to see a change from global warming

"I want to see a change from all these rising food prices," he added. "Whatever happens in Washington indirectly affects all of us."