There are those who compare
Cocoa Tea to
Marvin Gaye, and that's actually pretty apt. With his warm, smooth voice and his easy way of switching from suave, loverman lyrics to urgent social protest and spiritual testimony,
Cocoa Tea may be the closest thing reggae music has had to
Marvin Gaye. These qualities are apparent on this album, which compiles singles recorded under the supervision of legendary dancehall producer
Philip "Fatis" Burrell for his Xterminator label. The material is almost uniformly fine. Highlights include "Lonesome Feeling," which is powered by one of drummer
Sly Dunbar's churning signature rhythms, and "Long Time," with its old-school piano and horns that contrast nicely with the synthetic, dancehall drum patterns. As is often the case with dancehall collections, many of the instrumental tracks featured here are familiar. Some, in fact, are too familiar: "Grow U Locks" is a barely disguised adaptation of the
Junior Byles classic "Curly Locks," and "Criminality" borrows even more blatantly from
Black Uhuru's "Solidarity." (This would be less of a problem if
Cocoa Tea didn't take songwriting credit for them in the notes.) Original or not, there's scarcely a track here that won't accentuate the dance, and
Cocoa Tea himself is at the top of his vocal form on every track. Recommended.
–
Rick Anderson, Rovi