Phillip Smart's Legacy Recognized With "Hotta This Year" Compilation Album

Mention the name Phillip Smart to contemporary dancehall fans, and they are likely to respond, ‘Phillip who?!’ Smart, who played a big role in giving Shaggy his big break 32 years ago, was a major player in the New York dancehall-reggae scene.

The engineer/producer died from cancer in February, 2014 at age 60. He was head of HC&F Recording Studio in Long Island where Oh Carolina, Shaggy’s breakthrough song, was recorded. 

Smart also worked on Angel, another of Shaggy’s big hits. His legacy is recognized on Hotta This Year, a compilation album released on April 18 by C&I Jah Bless Records.

The eight-song set is based on Hot This Year, the 1991 hit single by Dirtsman, Papa San’s older brother who was killed in Jamaica two years later. Hot This Year was the biggest hit in Jamaica for Smart, who was born in Kingston but migrated to the United States in 1976.

A protege of legendary engineer Osbourne “King Tubby” Ruddock, Smart was engineer for hit singles like Kuff by Shelly Thunder, Murderer by Barrington Levy and Audrey Hall’s One Dance. All were done at HC&F, which Smart started in 1982 with Michael McDonald, his brother-in-law.

McDonald, along with Ian Clough, Shane Hoosong and Dwayne Johnson co-produced Hotta This Year which contains songs like Call On Me by Shaggy, Crissin, Olaf Blackwood and Kartel Monttana; Back it Up by Charly Black, If I Had A Wish by Maxi Priest and Hotta This Year by American rapper, Maino.

Respected Jamaican broadcaster Clinton Lindsay was a friend and rival of Smart, who hosted the Get Smart show on the WNYU radio station from 1979 to 2004. He described him as “one of the most valuable assets on the New York City scene.”

Lindsay added that: “Some of the biggest names in reggae/dancehall would have their music mixed by Phillip. He was the go-to studio, people sent their stuff and came in person to get that King Tubby mix that only Phillip could make happen.”

Hotta This Year is the second project by C&I Jah Bless Records highlighting Smart’s contributions. The vinyl-only Prince Phillip Presents: Dubplates and Raw Rhythm From King Tubby’s Studio 1973-1976, was released in 2024.