Sharon Marley on motherhood, polygamy and Bob’s remains
A life more ordinary: Sharon Marley follows her passions
She has been in the spotlight for most of her life – the eldest child of an international superstar, an outstanding performer in her own right as a member of a Grammy award-winning group. Now Sharon Marley juggles business interests and raising four children, even as she deals with the divorce from their father.
Dunbar brings reggaeton to Anchorage
Born in New York to a Puerto Rican mother and a Jamaican father, and raised in Manhattan, Washington Heights and Harlem, Huey Dunbar was bound to have some stories to tell.
Robert Nesta Marley, O.M., composer
On this day 25 years ago, the Jamaican songwriter and political activist Bob Marley died of cancer in Miami. He was only 36 years old.
I’m not sufficiently grounded in either Jamaican or African politics to venture any sort of opinion on what his long-term impact has been in those realms, though at least as far as Africa goes, he would still have had plenty to write about today.
Angel and Sizzla warm up with Good Loving
Good Loving, a new collaborative effort between singer Angel Shalome and Sizzla Kalonji, looks set to become a staple at radio. The track, produced by Delroy ‘Fatta’ Pottinger, highlights the vocal capabilities of Angel, and features a scrumptious bout of toasting from Sizzla.
DJ Spooky Revisits ‘Fine’ Reggae
DJ Spooky raided the vaults of Trojan Records and came out on the other side with the double-disc set “In Fine Style: 50,000 Volts of Trojan Records.” With cuts from artists like Sly & Robbie, Peter Tosh and Lee Perry, the compilation will hit stores June 27 via Trojan.
The renowned spinner took a heady approach in summing up the Jamaican label’s 40-year history with his selections.
Frenzied East Coast ska kings the Slackers nail the live show.
Nonstop touring, superb musicianship, and an energetic stage show have built up the reputation of the Slackers, but their live albums have never captured the intensity the East Coast ska outfit will likely bring to Slim’s in San Francisco this Saturday. That all changes with Peculiar, the six-piece’s latest effort, which solves the problem by combining the best aspects of a live gig with some studio polish.
Surprising hands bear the torch of Marley
Outwardly, Sean Paul and Matisyahu don’t really have the brotherhood vibe going on.
Corn-rowed Paul is from Jamaica, and of Jamaican-Portuguese-Chinese heritage, while the bearded Matisyahu — known to his mom as Matthew Miller — is a Pennsylvania-born Hasidic Jew of European descent who now calls New York home. But the two singers, both of whom have been about as unavoidable lately as high notes at an American Idol audition, do share one thing: carrying on the spirit of Bob Marley, the pioneering reggae singer-songwriter who died of cancer 25 years ago today at age 36.
Undoubtedly the hottest track of the new year so far is Tony Matterhorn’s Dutty Wine, which has not only spurred on other deejays like Elephant Man to create their own version but has also started rumours on the dancing scene.
Matisyahu. Heeb. Guilt & Pleasure. Times are flush if you’re a young, culturally minded American Jew.
Indeed, the last few years have seen an explosion in artistic and cultural activity by and for Jews. Matisyahu, a Hasidic reggae singer, for example, has sold more than 500,000 albums. And Heeb, a Jewish magazine aimed at young hip Jews, has been the subject of much chatter and numerous articles in the mainstream media.
Irie Love: Hawaiian roots, reggae fruits
Irie Love (not a stage name, but her given name, inspired by the third World classic, Irie Ites) recounts that while she grew in her mother’s womb, her father would place stereo headphones on her mother’s belly, thus ‘piping in’ the sounds of Buju Banton, Third World and others.
