Buju takes ‘Driver’s’ seat at Rebel Salute Buju Banton was at his best on Saturday night at the 2007 Tru-Juice Rebel Salute, as he stole the spotlight at the Port Kaiser venue in St. Elizabeth. While almost everyone played second fiddle to the nimble star, acts such as deejay Assassin, songbird Diana King, veteran singer [...]
Reggae vibe reaches all the way into Arkansas Joseph Israel recorded his first album in Kingston, Jamaica, a place that not only represents to him the artists who recorded there before, but also a part of his own upbringing. He cites his source of musical inspiration as the same as that which “causes the rain [...]
UB40 – From welfare to Grammy nomination For almost 30 years, British reggae band, UB40 has been an unconventional face of reggae. They have become arguably the number one reggae act of all-time in terms of record sales, chart positions and touring schedule. Now, with approximately 25 albums under their belt, they stand the chance [...]
‘Wet Dream’ still banned Sunday Gleaner: Why do they call you the ‘original rude boy of reggae’? Max Romeo: I started this whole sex revolution with lewd images. I recorded this song Wet Dream; it’s all about sex. It played twice on BBC, some Jamaicans called and reported it. It hit the top, stayed on [...]
A ‘Romeo’ in life and on stage Romancing the girls with his risqué lyrics, Max Romeo introduced Britain to a sex revolution. The overly-suggestive Wet Dream reached number 10 on the United Kingdom (U.K.) charts signalling the start of what should have been a huge career. Although he had a number of very popular songs, [...]
Where is Brick & Lace? They burst onto the dancehall-pop scene as Jamaica’s answer to international supergroup Destiny’s Child. Tasha, Nyanda and Nailah Thorbourne. the sexy, sultry sisters who called themselves Brick & Lace, blazed the airwaves and then disappeared. What happened to them?
The cool ruler of reggae makes a comeback Gregory Isaacs, one of Jamaica’s greatest musical exports, was recently honoured with a special reception at the island’s High Commission in London. In Britain, Isaacs is best known for the classic, Night Nurse, recently given new life on an advert for cough syrup. However, anyone who has [...]
Kartel denies shooting at Mavado Dancehall artiste, Vybz Kartel, is denying accusations that he shot at Mavado and his entourage, in Cassava Piece on Sunday night. The artiste, who confirmed hearing the alleged rumours, says he was not even in the area at the time of the incident, as he was at a surprise birthday [...]
Bloody hell! ‘Dutty Wine’ song of the year…Tune tops English Charts Amidst all the controversy that has surrounded the Dutty Wine dance, the song, done by selector/artiste Tony Matterhorn was voted as the number one song on the English charts for 2006. The song currently holds the number one spot on the 1Xtra Dancehall Hot [...]
Reggae the Hasidic way As the 49th Annual Grammy Awards approaches, The Sunday Gleaner will be featuring those nominated in the reggae category. They are Matisyahu, Buju Banton, Sly and Robbie, Ziggy Marley and UB 40. This week, we start with Matisyahu. Matisyahu, 27, a member of the Lubavitch Hasidic (Jewish) community, was born Matthew [...]