When reggae musician Fitzroy Albert Cotterell’s father died, the man better known as Prezident Brown was forced to leave school and help care for his mother and three sisters. Growing up in the poor farming town of Oracabessa in the mountains of Jamaica was a struggle, but Brown looks back on it with loving nostalgia. ?“I have fond memories of going down to the river, catching fish and cooking on the river stones,” he says. “It was a very good part of my life.”?

via Longtime reggae musician Prezident Brown.

For the first time in the history of the Reggae Film Festival, entries from the RBC Make a Film in 24 Hours Competition will be seen on local TV screens immediately after they are received at the close of the competition. Flow has partnered with the Reggae Film Festival and will broadcast the short film entries on Flow TV (Flow Channel 100) starting today. The screenings will continue until the close of the festival.

via Reggae Film Festival “flows” to local TV screens.

Internationally acclaimed Dancehall/Reggae producer, Tony ‘CD’ Kelly has proven his sharp eye for quality and talent once more with the release of his newest compilation, the 1st Quarters Riddim. Known for being instrumental in propelling the international careers of artistes such as Sean Paul, Patra, Shaggy and Beenie Man to name a few, Kelly has released a new Dancehall Riddim combining the exploits of established and upcoming acts.

via 1st Quarters Riddim shows its game for success in Dancehall.

He was born in a Jamaican hill town without electricity and grew up in Kingston’s most notorious slum. Even as an adult, he often walked around barefoot. But now, in death, Bob Marley has transcended his humble roots and become one of the biggest earners on the planet. And with a new documentary and a slew of Marley-inspired products on the way, the reggae legend is about to become even more valuable.Puff on this: Marley’s empire could be worth a billion dollars.

via The billion dollar rasta.

In 1998, German sing-jay Gentleman flew to Kingston, Jamaica to further his career in reggae. Seeking recording opportunities, Gentleman called several Kingston based producers via contact information gleaned from the island’s Yellow Pages but only one expressed interest in working with the Cologne-based artist: Richie Stephens. The CEO of Pot of Gold Productions, Stephens, 45, is best known for the robust, soulful vocals that characterize his numerous hit singles over the past twenty years, including the patriotic "Come To Jamaica," adapted as the official theme for Jamaica’s leg of the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup, and the 2011 dancehall hit "Born to Love You."

via How German Reggae Star Gentleman Found Success By Keeping It Real.

The ‘Drop it Like it’s Hot’ rapper has been working with producer Diplo – who has previously produced tracks for Beyonce, M.I.A and Usher – and exploring a new musical direction.

Diplo told MTV: “Snoop Dogg is an icon, man; he’s bigger than the music. What we’re doing is a reggae record.

“It’s all reggae and he’s singing and he’s doing a f***ing awesome job and I never knew it, but he had his heart in every song.”

via Snoop Dogg making reggae album.

A friend describes vacationing with her family as housekeeping in a different environment. She’s constantly chasing after the kids with a bottle of sunscreen, picking up after them, and worrying about snacks and the next meal.

But I’m sitting on the circular balcony of my split-level, two-bedroom, Mediterranean-style suite, listening to the waves and the happy chatter of my two kids as they build a sandcastle below me. My husband has taken off birding.

via Family Travel: Jamaican resort includes nanny service so parents can truly relax.

You could hear it on mainstream radio in 1978, courtesy of The Police, and if you’re in Britain, you can hear it on the airwaves today, in the music of Birmingham-born MC Lady Leshurr: reggae’s influence on British music.”As long as there’s been reggae, there’s been reggae in the U.K., and that influence has played a massive role,” says producer and DJ Ras Kwame, who has worked on BBC Radio for more than a decade.

via Reggae In The U.K.: A Steady Force.

The 2012 staging of Western Consciousness is more than a month away but promoter Worrell King is already grinning from ear to ear as he has landed one of reggae’s premier acts, the dazzling crooner Beres Hammond.

“Yeah, man … me have Beres … Beres sign,” an elated King told The Gleaner earlier this week.

“Except for Buju, Beres is the artiste the fans request the most when I am putting together the line-up each year. I am just happy that I will be able to satisfy the fans.”

via Beres to take the trod out west.

I’m on a boat ride from Jakes Hotel to The Pelican Bar, a slapdash, ramshackle, barely held together joint that rests on a sandbar nearly a kilometre from Jamaica’s quiet south shore.

The Caribbean is all silver-green and the surf is gently rolling three passengers and a guy who calls himself Captain Joseph. As he steers his small outboard through the surf, a huge Kingfish suddenly leaps from the water, straining all its muscles, and arcs through the warm air. It seems to glide for an eternity as I stare in amazement.

via Jamaica Travel: Jakes Hotel a real treasure at Treasure Beach.