No gay reggae in the MIA In 1988 as a 15-year-old up and coming reggae singer, Buju Banton wrote a song titled, “Boom Boom Bye,” in which his lyrics told gay men he would like to, “burn him up bad like an old tire wheel,” or shoot them with an Uzi or an automatic weapon. [...]
Bounty Killer Denied Entry Into TT Jamaican Dancehall DJ, Bounty Killer, who was one of the main acts in last night’s “Cease Fire” concert at the King George V Park in Port-of-Spain, failed to show, as he was denied entry into the country on Friday night by Immigration officers at Piarco International Airport. Sunday Newsday [...]
Lost legends of reggae As we enter black history month, Davina Morris salutes some of reggae music’s past pioneers It’s impossible not to think of the late great Bob Marley when considering reggae icons. But, of course, there were countless artists before and since Marley who made a massive impact on the Jamaica-born genre.
Hip hop book taps into Jamaican roots The love of hip hop has taken Dalton Higgins, a music programmer, pop culture critic, author, broadcaster and journalist, around the world, but it was a visit to Germany that inspired him to write a new book, Hip Hop World. The Canada-born writer of Jamaican parentage takes a [...]
Rocksteady: The Roots Of Reggae The lovingly conceived, brilliantly executed, multi-platform Rocksteady: The Roots Of Reggae aims to achieve the same sort of museum piece-to-modernity transformation for Jamaican rocksteady that Buena Vista Social Club (World Circuit, 1996) created for Cuban music of an earlier era. As with Buena Vista, there’s a CD, a movie and [...]
Just let the music play. without set quotas Large radio stations won’t increase local content to suit the Jamaica Music Society (JAMMS) which says the dominance of foreign music is costing the country millions in royalty payments at the expense of national development. “We are not supportive of giving up flexibility and ability to respond [...]
Many horn players, few opportunities Jamaica has a sterling history of horns in its music, the trumpet, trombone and saxophone giving songs a sparkle onstage and in the studio, and people such as Tommy McCook, Don Drummond, Wilton Gaynair, Lester Sterling, Sonny Bradshaw, Nambo Robinson, Dean Fraser and Tony Greene among those who have played [...]
Blakk Rasta features in Amsterdam’s biggest reggae festival Ghana’s reggae sensation, Blakk Rasta, performs live in Holland, on a platform which has for years been the preserve of Western and American reggae artistes. The concert, which comes off at The Sand in Amsterdam city, is the most popular reggae event in Holland. Blakk Rasta rubs [...]
Gay activists protest upcoming Buju Banton performance at Miami’s James L. Knight Center Several gay-rights groups are protesting a Halloween-night concert at a city of Miami-owned hall by Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton, whose hit song Boom Bye Bye advocates shooting gays in the head and setting them on fire. “”The message is that gay [...]
Errol Bonnick fuels his passion for music The entertainment industry is replete with instances of artistes starting out as a member of a group, then branching out into solo acts. On the international stage there is Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Lionel Richie and Beyonce, while locally such artistes include Bob Marley, Judy Mowatt, John Holt [...]