BOB Marley died at the age of 36. I recall seeing him alive at the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, where his sons were altar servers. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is the closest church, theologically, to the Roman Catholic Church in Jamaica, and there were times, as a young man, when I would pay a visit. I [...]
Clarke, who would have turned 66 this Thursday, February 6, passed away last night in a hospital in Orlando, Florida. He had been diagnosed with cancer and had been battling the disease in intensive care. It is reported that because of health problems, he missed some of the shows in Third World’s 40th anniversary tour [...]
Jamaican back-up singer Tessanne Chin will be singing lead from now on: She beat out 16-year-old Colts Neck powerhouse Jacquie Lee and Los Angeles musician Will Champlin, 30, in the fifth season of “The Voice” Tuesday night. In her audition, Tessanne, a 28-year-old vocalist who has toured with reggae legend Jimmy Cliff, had impressed the [...]
Taboo Yardies, a Jamaican film-maker’s documentary on her country’s indifference toward homosexuality, is doing the promotional rounds. T he 77-minute film, produced by Selena Blake, had a screening Monday at the International LGBT Film Festival in Dublin, Ireland. According to a spokesperson for Taboo Yardies, the project “went over very well” with the audience. via [...]
For the first time since 1966, there will be no Festival or Popular Song Contest. Instead, the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, producers of the event, launched a campaign for fans to vote online for their favourite song. Today, the Jamaica Observer publishes the fourth in a six-part series on past competitions. THE year was 1975 [...]
FILM director LaToya Vereen hopes her debut French-made production — ‘?’ (question) — will have a positive impact on the local industry. Her work is one of several scheduled to be shown at the Jamaica International Reggae Film Festival at the Island Village in Ocho Rios, St Ann, which began on Thursday and continues until [...]
Dancehall music has had its fair share of highs and lows since the 1990s. The most notable of those ‘highs’ are perhaps Shabba’s double Grammy Award wins and Shaggy’s diamond-selling record, despite many other gains by several artistes. As far as low moments are concerned, there appears to be stiff competition between Shabba’s fall from [...]
Based on New Times’ reporting, a federal judge in Tampa last week tossed out one of two convictions that sent reggae giant Buju Banton to prison in 2011. The decision — which hinged on juror misconduct dug up by the newspaper — is just the latest plot twist since the Grammy Award winner was rounded [...]
Street dancing has long been an informal profession taken on by inner-city youth. Using the dancehall stage as their training and promotional ground as well as performance platform, several dancers have managed to cement themselves as international celebrities in their own right. However, videos from street dances which brought many dancers to fame, are back [...]
Of course February is REGGAE MONTH & as the month kicks off with two legendary artists’ birthdays – DENNIS BROWN on the 1st and BOB MARLEY on the 6th there are celebrations all over the world. You can check out your local listings here or hit up your local dancehall joint, whatever you do don’t [...]