Ghetto-ology + Dub

Album Review

After a successful apprenticeship under Coxsone Dodd at Studio One, Lincoln "Sugar" Minott went out on his own and established two labels of his own: Black Roots and Youth Promotion. Ghetto-ology, originally released in 1979, was his first self-produced album, and it was hard to come by until it was reissued on CD by the American Easy Star label in early 2000. If there were some kind of Reggae Medal of Honor, Easy Star would deserve it for bringing this hidden treasure back to light. It includes such stellar performances as "Man Hungry," the eerie "So Many Things," and "The People Got to Know," all of them sung in Minott's inimitably sweet style and supported by the rock-solid foundation of the Soul Syndicate band. What makes this reissue even more special is the inclusion of Ghetto-ology Dubwise, the dub counterpart to the original album that was remixed by dub legend King Tubby and copies of which have been even harder to find than Ghetto-ology itself. Quibbles? Instead of having the two albums programmed end-to-end, it would have been nice to have the dub versions interspersed with the songs themselves. But that's a minor annoyance; this is one of the year's best reggae reissues.