Sugar Minott - Reggae Anthology: Sugar Minott - Hard Time Pressure (2024)

Sugar Minott’s close-cropped locks, gap-toothed smile, and sartorial flair made him an unmistakable presence on the Jamaican dancehall circuit, but it was his unfailing versatility that ensured his star rose even as Jamaican music started to change in the mid-‘80s. As a singer, Minott could adapt himself to any style, from the languid, deliberately paced rhythms of classic roots productions like “Hard Time Pressure” to the harder, more dissonant sounds of dancehall classics like “Herbsman Hustling” and “Informer.” Because of this eclecticism, Minott’s career is hard to encapsulate in a single collection; most compilations focus on either his roots or his dancehall material. VP’s Hard Time Pressure ambitiously attempts to survey both sides of Minott’s work, and it succeeds thanks to its extended runtime and well-selected tracklist. The 36 tunes here are drawn from all stages of Minott’s career. They include recordings he made with producers like Ranking Dread, Lloyd “Bullwackie” Barnes, and Linval Thompson, as well as sessions that Minott himself oversaw for release on his own imprint, African Roots.

1.01 - Sugar Minott - My Love Is True (4:06)
1.02 - Sugar Minott - Hard Time Pressure (3:09)
1.03 - Sugar Minott - River Jordan (3:09)
1.04 - Sugar Minott - Never Gonna Give Jah Up (3:34)
1.05 - Sugar Minott - Good Thing Going (3:41)
1.06 - Sugar Minott - Never Too Young (3:56)
1.07 - Sugar Minott - In The Residence (2:13)
1.08 - Sugar Minott - Babylon (4:22)
1.09 - Sugar Minott - No Vacancy (3:39)
1.10 - Sugar Minott - Ghetto-ology (3:14)
1.11 - Sugar Minott - Jah Jah Children (2:42)
1.12 - Sugar Minott - Man Hungry (3:35)
1.13 - Sugar Minott - Rome (2:59)
1.14 - Sugar Minott - The People Got To Know (3:20)
1.15 - Sugar Minott - Ghetto Youths (2:25)
1.16 - Sugar Minott - Loving Jah (3:28)
1.17 - Sugar Minott - Simple As That (5:03)
1.18 - Sugar Minott - Christmas Time (3:44)
1.19 - Sugar Minott - Lovers Rock (3:13)
1.20 - Sugar Minott - Sandy (4:33)
1.21 - Sugar Minott - Show Me That You Love Me Girl (3:21)
1.22 - Sugar Minott - You've Lost It (2:24)
1.23 - Sugar Minott - Penny For My Song (3:33)
1.24 - Sugar Minott - Now We Know (3:18)
1.25 - Sugar Minott - African Girl (2:42)
1.26 - Sugar Minott - All Kinda People (3:26)
1.27 - Sugar Minott - Easy Squeeze (4:32)
1.28 - Sugar Minott - Slice Of The Cake (3:45)
1.29 - Sugar Minott - Informer (3:46)
1.30 - Sugar Minott - Feel The Rydim (3:32)
1.31 - Sugar Minott - Old King Cole (3:18)
1.32 - Sugar Minott - Buy Off The Bar (3:17)
1.33 - Sugar Minott - International Herd (4:39)
1.34 - Sugar Minott - Herbman Hustling (3:32)
1.35 - Sugar Minott - Devil's Pickney (4:51)
1.36 - Sugar Minott - Rub A Dub Sound (4:31)