The queen of reggaeton

Known for her brash attitude, distinctive throaty voice and lyrics of female empowerment, Ivy (pronounced Eve-y) Queen has made her mark in the Latin music world as a bona fide reggaeton superstar.

The 33-year-old Puerto Rican rapper, a.k.a. Martha Ivelisse Pesante, is the only woman to break into the male-dominated up-and-coming music genre that blends hip-hop with Latin and dance-hall reggae beats. She headlines Saturday at “La Invasión del Reggaeton” at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.

Sean Paul readies The Trinity

The new Sean Paul album will be titled The Trinity.

Recorded entirely in Jamaica, The Trinity will be the follow-up to his 6 million selling second album ‘Dutty Rock’.

Sinead O’Connor Reflects on First Reggae Album

Sinead O’Connor, who has recorded her first reggae album, “Throw Down Your Arms,” said she has found solace in Jamaican music and the Rastafarian faith.

“To me, I have not made a reggae record, I’ve made a Rasta record,” O’Connor said Monday night at a launch party for the album, set for release later this year.

Yellowman & the Sagittarius Band

The dancehall reggae superstar who once called himself ‘Yellow like cheese,’ Yellowman embodied the best (powerful music, charismatic rapping) and the worst (homophobia, explicit, often crass sexuality, etc.) of his genre. Still, he’s a legend. Flamingo Cantina. — Joe Gross

King Yellowman as he is known, is one of the most popular reggae artists to have come from Jamaica. Born as Winston Foster in 1959, in Kingston, Jamaica, he was also an alumnus of the Alpha Boy’s school where many reggae artists and musicians got their early musical training. He won the annual Tastee Talent contest held in Jamaica in 1978, and within a matter of months became a headlining act on Jamaican stage shows.

village voice > music > Our Own Roots ‘n’ Ganja Man Visits Planet Reggae by Elena Oumano

Since born rebels see comrades in every other outlaw and country & western’s twang once ran Jamaican airwaves, our own roots ‘n’ ganja man’s reggae album isn’t strange, just overdue.

Planet Reggae maintains no tune ever lived that couldn’t benefit from a one-drop injection, and that bias holds up here, though to be fair, Willie’s music is comfortable in any world he chooses to visit. Mostly reggaefied c&w chestnuts, these 12 tracks smoothly fold in home comforts—acoustic guitar, pedal steel, dobro, and harmonica.

Bob Marley Coming of Age Story May Stir It Up on Broadway in Near Future

Legendary musician Bob Marley may be the next popular artist to be venerated on Broadway, according to The Jamaica Observer.

Neville Garrick, the reggae artist’s former collaborator, told the publication “A Broadway play on Bob Marley is supposed to be the next big project I’ll be working on with the (Marley) family.”