Poor People’s Defenda Chuck Fenda talks to Davina Morris about his new album The Living Fire and the controversy surrounding his single Gash Dem. Chuck Fenda could be described as the Robin Hood of reggae. Having proclaimed himself as the ‘poor people’s defender’, the much-loved reggae artist believes it is his duty to look out [...]
Sally and the Malawi reggae revolution Reggae as a music genre has its roots deeply rooted in the African soil. This type of music, known for its liberating messages and radical sounds was born from the very cradle of humanity in Africa. It goes, then, without saying that African musicians should be better placed to [...]
On the Verge – Yogi goes back to basics as Courtney John Seven years ago Jamaicans went crazy for singer Yogi’s remake of the Paul Davis classic, I Go Crazy, which was accompanied by a refreshing video. Last year, he re-entered our consciousness with yet another eye-catching video; this time featuring an emerging talent in [...]
Reggae’s inventor recalls doing time to slow his career climb As a musically inclined kid growing up in the township of Maypen, Jamaica, Frederick Hibbert would stop to listen to American R&B and soul legends — Ray Charles, James Brown, Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner and Sam Cooke would blare from the radio as [...]
Musical youth Meet the anti-Jacksons. The Marley family has been producing a string of high-quality hits in their genre in the last few years. They’re nowhere near as strange or publicity-hungry as the Jackson siblings, who recently signed on for a reality series minus Michael and Janet. But they’re larger: Bob, who died in 1981, [...]
Tobago Jazz It Up Tobago has swiftly shifted into “Jazz-mode†and several local promoters and entertainers have come up with a number of pre-Jazz Fest events to capitalise on the hype surrounding the actual Plymouth Jazz Festival event. The trendsetter being the recently concluded Plymouth Street Beat that took place on Shelbourne Street which is [...]
Della enchants at Red Bones For some odd reason, Della Manley was worried after her performance at Redbones the Blues Café, Braemar Avenue, New Kingston recently. She had absolutely no need to be. Performing before a packed house, with Omar Francis on guitar, Gibby on bass, Denver Smith on percussion and later on, Jerome Tulloch [...]
Kes evolves from garage band Soca, reggae, dancehall, pop and rock with a twist of Caribbean energy make the ever-dynamic group, Kes the Band stand out. Hailing from Trinidad, the band of brothers, Kees (lead singer), Hans (drummer) and Jon Dieffenthaller (guitar), Riad Bonchoon (bass guitar), Keith Cruickshank (keyboardist) and Nadia Batson (vocalist) is set [...]
From Hello Darlin’ to Up 2 Di Time … Of course, the three-decade history of Greensleeves records significantly pre-dates the above-referenced 1986 Tippa Irie single (one of, if not the first record from a reggae artiste to find national chart success in the UK) and neither does it end with Vybz Kartel’s famous slang.
Inside the ‘Kalonji complex’ It might be easy to assume you know Sizzla. After all, the turban-wearing Rasta singer has been arguably the most prolific reggae artiste of the last decade, recording – at last check – 38 albums since Black Woman And Child brought him to wider recognition in 1997. But as a recent [...]