The father of the breakbeat Though considered the father of hip-hop, DJ Kool Herc is often overlooked today. The Jamaican-born artist was responsible for laying much of the music’s foundation. By spinning two copies of the same record on separate turntables, he invented the breakbeat — an extended rhythmic section from a hit song to [...]
Jamaican music industry loses US$ millions through intellectual property piracy The Jamaican music industry, the world’s leading exporter of reggae music, is losing millions of dollars through intellectual property (IP) piracy and it is revenue that the country can ill afford to lose as it continues to develop its economy. So said one of the [...]
Lopez, Williams Recording Reggaeton Song Jennifer Lopez was in Puerto Rico this week to record a reggaeton song with rapper-producer Pharrell Williams. The 37-year-old singer-actress arrived Tuesday to work on the track, which will be produced by top reggaeton duo LunyTunes, El Vocero and El Nuevo Dia newspapers reported.
Daddy Yankee becomes a breakout star For a man who has been blasted by an AK-47, had part of an earlobe ripped off by a hysterical fan and is draped in so many diamonds he looks as if he’s crashed into a Harry Winston display case, Daddy Yankee has an alarmingly light security detail. He’s [...]
Reggaeton revolution hits valley The beat is still hip-hop, but with a fusion of dancehall reggae, merengue, salsa and cumbia, and the lyrics are in Spanish. The Puerto Rican-driven musical craze has been exploding in the United States with artists like Daddy Yankee selling more than a million copies of his latest album, “Barrio Fino,” [...]
I Wayne’s ‘Lava Ground’ – One Of Year’s Best Singles Roots and culture artists have long been a constant in Jamaica, from the influence of legends like Bob Marley to conscious roots dancehall singers like Garnet Silk. However, in the summer of 2004 a new and powerfully distinctive voice emerged on the reggae music scene. [...]
A chip off the old Bob Damian Marley has his father’s thigh-skimming dreadlocks and the fine features of his Miss World mother, but when he takes to the stage he has an energy all his own. The slender 27-year-old, the youngest of Bob Marley’s seven sons and the product of his affair with former beauty [...]
Making a good life wherever we are As a Jamaican in Cayman who has contributed significantly to the commercial and social fabric of this society, what is also important is that Mr Guilfoyle and his family have spent more than half of that number of years living here in Cayman, but he still keeps an [...]
Jamaica signs on to Venezuela’s plan for cheaper oil in Caribbean Jamaica became the first Caribbean country to sign an agreement with Venezuela on a new plan for the South American nation to supply oil to countries throughout the region at below-market prices.
Roots reggae and resistance from Jamaica to Brixton Once feared by the authorities and celebrated by rebels from Notting Hill to Zimbabwe, roots reggae has been sanitised. Bob Marley is presented as simply uplifting summer music. But a series 1970s reggae reissues is making it possible to see how innovative, influential and politically aware it [...]