Negril — a laid-back Jamaican coastal town — has everything you’d want from an idyllic island getaway. There are long stretches of sandy beach lined with restaurants, bars, and vibrant street vendors; cliffside hotels and restaurants overlooking glittering Caribbean waters; and, of course, Bob Marley’s greatest hits playing around every corner. Whether you’re looking for a weekend of romance [...]
Reggae was originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The first popular song to officially use the word "reggae" was "Do the Reggay", a 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, thus giving the name to the genre and introducing it to a much wider global audience. As a matter of fact, the term reggae [...]
Ibo Cooper said that he is longing for the day when Reggae Month will bring about the kind of buzz that could boost the country’s economy in a significant way."I’m dreaming of a Reggae Month where thousands of visitors flock the island to participate in the different activities, where every gas station run outta gas [...]
Ninjaman, dubbed as the Gold Teeth Don Gargan of dancehall, will not be celebrating a Merry Christmas in 2017.A seven-person jury found Desmond “Ninjaman” Ballentine; his son, Jahneil Ballentine, and a friend, Dennis Clayton, guilty of the murder of Ricardo Johnson, and they will be sentenced on December 15, 2017 more than likely to life [...]
The Harder They Come, Jamaica’s first (and still finest) home-grown film, was released in 1972 with the local singer Jimmy Cliff as the country boy Ivan Martin, who becomes a Robin Hood-like criminal outlaw amid the ganja-yards and urban alleys of the Jamaican capital of Kingston. The film’s director Perry Henzell, a ganja-smoking white Jamaican [...]
Damian Marley shot the music video for his new song “Medication” in a medical marijuana farm. The reggae singer, who is part owner of a medical marijuana company, exalts the drug’s benefits in “Medication,” which appears on his newly released album “Stony Hill.” It’s his first solo record in 12 years, but don’t call it [...]
Music industry players have welcomed the JCDC’s decision to endorse all of the island’s popular street dances this year.According to insiders, the support from JCDC is way overdue and more government-affiliated bodies should help to develop the music industry instead of tear it down."We think it is a nice move, and it helps the youth [...]
It is a strange thing to be a Jamaican artist trying to break into the American music scene in 2017. For many American listeners, their knowledge of reggae begins (and ends) with the name Marley (right now, half of the albums in the iTunes Store reggae top 10 are old Bob Marley albums). On top [...]
The song Dancehall Queen by Beenie Man and Chevelle Franklyn hit the Billboard charts exactly 20 years ago this week.Originally produced by Tony Kelly and Steven “Lenky” Marsden, the song was remixed by Lowell “Sly” Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare for Island Jamaica. It was the remix that took off and became a monster hit. Dancehall [...]
Critics have in recent times proclaimed Japan to be the capital of dancehall music and France the capital of reggae music. With that being said, several music industry protagonists have rubbished those claims, while others have agreed that the critics have put forward a strong argument. Iconic sound system operator Winston ‘Wee Pow’ Powell, who [...]