Got to Be Tough

The first Toots and the Maytals release in over ten years is a big deal for reggae enthusiasts. The 77-year-old Frederick ‘Toots’ Hibbert has hardly been out the loop though, with explosive festival shows in recent years winning over a new generation of fans. And with a career that began in the early 60s and from day one spilled into American gospel and soul, Toots has huge value in the context of Black Lives Matter; he’s the closest thing we have to a living Otis Redding.

The title-track and lead single features an older, wiser sounding Toots than you might be used to. Gone is the punchy swagger that made ‘Pressure Drop’ and ‘54-46 Was My Number’ instant hits. Instead, ‘Got To Be Tough’ requires a few listens for its message of reflection to land. Another of the album’s standout tracks, ‘Freedom Train’, has a similar air of urgency without Toots breaking into his trademark roar, while Ziggy Marley joins on a heart-felt cover of ‘Three Little Birds’. With Bob Dylan and Neil Young both topping the music charts, it seems only fitting that Toots and the Maytals mark 2020 with a stamp of veteran authority.