I don’t dread business Levi Roots has proved you don’t need to be a business whiz to slay the Dragons’ Den millionaires. Viewers of the BBC2 show, which sees business hopefuls pitching for cash backing from rich “dragons”, were stunned when the dreadlocked musician won a £50,000 investment. His pitch had seemed shambolic, kicking off [...]

Ragga Muffins Festival nurtures reggae’s roots “Who likes roots music? Who’s a roots lover?” asked dreadlocked master of ceremonies Spliff Skanking. It was a purely rhetorical question, seeing as how almost every single person in the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium was there specifically to hear reggae music of the traditional variety. Nevertheless, the crowd let [...]

Diaspora expressed through film, music – The Brown and White As part of the College of Arts and Science’s project “Diaspora: Re-Imagining Cultural Space,” the Philip and Muriel Berman Center for Jewish Studies recently sponsored a film and a musical performance to explore the concept of diaspora. Awake Zion

The stuff of legend Joseph Israel, the Jewish Bob Marley of Arkansas, will bring his music and message to the Urban Lounge this Saturday as part of his tour promoting his new album, Gone Are the Days. Recorded in reggae’s legendary Tuff Gong studio in Kingston, Jamaica, Gone Are the Days is being praised in [...]

Reggae Sauce star is hot stuff Dragons’ Den Rasta Levi Roots is on a mission to spice up the pop charts – by reaching No1 with his Reggae Reggae Sauce tune. He’s become a cult star after serenading the millionaire investors on the hit BBC2 show before agreeing a £50,000 deal. And now he hopes [...]

‘Malo’ is 2007 Soca Monarch Marlon ‘Malo’ Webster took the 2007 Carib Soca Monarch title in a landslide on Sunday night, with an energetic, creative and intense presentation that captured the imagination of the judges and the hearts and souls of the crowd. Until ‘Malo’ stepped onto the National Park stage asking those present to [...]

Strip Tease: a star-studded night Last Saturday’s staging of ‘Strip Tease 3, Jungle Extasy’ at the Students’ Activity Centre, UTech, featured some hot performances on stage from not only billed acts, but also from a couple surprise ones as well. At 2:43 a.m., after the likes of Razz and Biggy, Renaissance, Swatch International and other [...]

The Boom Shack Man The trademark dredlocks and energetic movements are still intact. While Apache Indian may have disappeared off India’s burgeoning music scene, he’s hardly been idle; he’s been busy recording with the likes of UB40, Maxi Priest and Shaggy. Widely credited for having introduced Indians to a different style of reggae, his superhits [...]

Charlie Chaplin no dancehall comedian Blessed with a sense of humour, a memorable voice and an ever conscious mentality, deejay Charlie Chaplin is a pioneer in the dancehall. While the image of an English comedian with a quirky moustache may come to mind when one hears the name, Richard Bennett a.k.a. the Jamaican Charlie Chaplin, [...]

Cherine Anderson’s Kingston State Of Mind She generally represents the mellow side of dancehall, a musical genre that has become different things to different people. Her personification of the soulful branch of reggae radiates with comeliness and intellect that is as stunning and appealing as her sultry vocals. Cherine Anderson oozes the kind of confidence [...]