Purchase includes album art postcard signed by Toots Hibbert before his death in 2020. All profits will be donated to the Alpha Institute in his honor.
Alpha Institute | Kingston, Jamaica
“Welcome to the apocalyptic party that marks FREDERICK “TOOTS” HIBBERT’s return to the people with his first album of brand new songs in a decade. The energizing provocation of GOT TO BE TOUGH renews the near six-decade career of the man who launched a new sound and genre with his 1968 single “Do The Reggay.”
On the first single-act album to be released by the new TROJAN JAMAICA label, TOOTS throws down an authoritative guide: how to survive and thrive amidst our earthly challenges. For the first time, the Master Singer is his own Producer. He also plays many of the instruments and built arrangements with a mighty horn section. Additional musical support includes punk-funk guitar work from label co-founder ZAK STARKEY, deep rhythms from drum master SLY DUNBAR, and driving percussion from New Orleans musical icon CYRIL NEVILLE.
GOT TO BE TOUGH is a reminder that through TOOTS’ creative veins runs the life blood of the Black Diaspora — blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, African griots — TOOTS honors, owns, and extends them into his own creative statement.
