The reissue of Sugar's incredible 1979 masterpiece, available on CD for the first time, together with the complete dub version of the album, mixed by King Tubby and Prince Jammy. Includes the timeless songs "Never Gonna Give Jah Up", "Africa is the Black Man's Home", "Man Hungry", and "Ghetto-ology."

This album is dedicated to all ghetto youths of the world. Ghetto-ology, living in the ghetto, the struggle of all struggles. A pattern of living for the youth of the ghetto that seems to hold an everlasting barrier between them and the outside world.

Black Roots form in 1979. Youth Promotion was almost the same time, cause Black Roots was gathering the youths, whole heap a youths come up, said, “Dis here youth want to make a tune.” Them never had nothing like that before. So everyone start to flock to Maxfield Park, Barry Brown used to play, Little John and all that. All everybody start coming, so much youth now, so we promote ourself, and that’s how Youth Promotion start up. We had the sound system in ’83, but the Youth Promotion movement was already on before the sound.

Ghetto-ology was my first self-produced album after leaving Studio One. I always wanted to produce something for myself. Me just didn’t want to make music the same way and there was a local band called Soul Syndicate that give me some new vibes.

Soul Syndicate play all but two songs on the record. That was one day, the Soul Syndicate session, all a dem songs. One lick. That day was like, y’know, nuff herb and food and Jamaican vibe. For the horn section and all that, I know what I wanted, but for the guitar, Chinna made his own arrangement right there, man, and it was amazing. I never had nothing to do with that. The basic part of the riddim, I know what I wanted to do. But all day, people putting them own color in there.

I was so naïve about being a star. I just wanted to play the music. When it hit, man. . .look here, this picture on the cover, in the boathouse, my girlfriend made me thisshirt, Big Youth give me this old guitar, and I don’t remember where I got this hat from. And this is, like, from here to boomin’ on the streets of London a year later!

Them was hard times. My first child and me wanted to put nuff instruments on the album, but me couldn’t get no one, couldn’t pay no one to overdub on the album. So we just stay raw. We make it raw. This is my most happiest album. Making this was like, “Yes!” Excited!

Sugar Minott
(interviewed in February 2000)

Lead Vocals: Sugar Minott
Drums: Carlton "Santa" Davis, Freddie McGregor, Albert Malawi, Barnibas, Eric "Fish" Clarke
Bass: George "Fully" Fullwood, Earl "Bagga" Walker, Michael Ashley
Guitars: Earl "Chinna" Smith, Sangie Davis, Tony Chin
Keyboards: John, Wycliffe "Steely" Johnson, Gladstone Anderson, Pablove Black
Horns: Arnold Brackenridge, Roy Grant
Percussion: Zoot Sims, Donovan, Errol Holt
Harmony Vocals: Lottle roy, Ian Rock, Tony Tuff, Tristan Palma, Sugar Minott, Henry Francis, Ashanti Waugh

All Tracks Produced by Sugar Minott
Executive Producers: Eric Smith, Remy Gerstein, Michael Goldwasser and Lem Oppenheimer
Art design/direction by Lem Oppenheimer and Eric Smith