Queen Of UK Dancehall: Lady Chann
Lady Chann is having a right old natter. Dancehall in the UK is a strange beast, but its latest queen is anything but weird.
Sitting in a Walthamstow greasy spoon in a pink shell-suit, matching lipstick and her trusty mobile spinning round her fingers, Lady Chann is perfectly in balance with her North East London locale.
Jamaican beats, an international commodity
On the evening of March 31 2006, producer Rohan ‘Snowcone’ Fuller says he got a telephone call from Miami, Florida. The person on the other end of the line was American superstar producer Salaam Remi, who informed him that Temperature, deejay Sean Paul’s song on Fuller’s Applause ‘riddim’, had reached number one on the Billboard pop chart.
Rather than bringing out the celebratory liquor, Fuller recalls marking the occasion with a spiritual moment.
Jamaican Stars Open Up Gateway To Europe
Europe’s biggest port and second biggest city in Holland, Rotterdam, sees its first ever Reggae Festival this Easter Sunday, featuring a bumper crop of dancehall and reggae stars.
Confirmed acts include man of the moment Vybz Kartel, Energy God himself Elephant man, spirit of Marley Jah Cure, veteran Jamaican lovesong stars Chaka Demus & Pliers, roots rasta (and brother of Pliers) Richie Spice, pioneer Jamaican dancehall queen Tanya Stephens and spiritual lovers rocker Duane Stephenson, together with Dutch reggae acts and, from this side of the channel, British reggae artist of the decade Gappy Ranks.
Having had several albums to his name, Barrington Levy says that his latest project will be his last.
The album, which is to be titled It’s About Time, will be available for purchase this Fall.
Speaking with TheSTAR, Levy said, “It’s my final album that I’ll be putting out. I’ll still be touring, I’ll be singing and putting out singles, but I don’t think I’m going to put out any album.”
Chino set to drop debut project
Dancehall artiste Daniel ‘Chino’ McGregor is all set to release his debut album, Chino, on May 24, on the VP Records imprint.
The highly-anticipated studio effort from one of reggae’s dynasties, Chino being the son of reggae icon Freddie McGregor and brother of acclaimed producer Stephen ‘Di Genius’ McGregor, composes a new formula in reggae and dancehall music.
Levi Roots’ appearance on Dragons’ Den to promote his hot and spicy ‘Reggae Reggae’ jerk/barbeque sauce is now legendary. Dragons Peter Jones and Richard Farleigh bought into Levi’s dream of mass producing and mass marketing his sauce. Peter and Richard both offered £25,000 for 20% of the business, and a deal was done.
Since that TV appearance Levi now sells not just his original sauce, but other varieties of table sauce as well as cooking sauces, chilled meals, frozen meals, cook books, drinks, snacks and, last but not least, pizza. That’s not to mention his own TV programme and concert tours.
A Wild Ride Winds Down: The Awesome Story Behind Wrigleyville’s The Wild Hare
Everyone has a story, as we writers relish pointing out. But when I stopped by Wrigleyville’s longtime reggae club The Wild Hare last night to interview the owner, Zeleke Gessesse, about why he’s closing the place on May 15th after 25 years, I found myself in the presence of someone with a Story—capital S, plus italics.
There was almost no one in the bar when The Creative Director and I showed up around 10 p.m. to meet my publicist friend Michael (who, after stumbling upon The Wild Hare recently and hearing the tale you’re about to read, offered to help get the word out about the club’s last month in business) and his boyfriend, Eric.
Binghi Bob Fiya tops London chart
The town of Linstead in St Catherine has seen a number of its locals make an impact on the local music scene. They include Jigsy King and Tony Curtis.
Another of the town’s fledging acts is Binghi Bob Fiya and he is hoping to score similar success as the aforementioned acts.
JW, Blaze look forward to World Music Awards in T&T
Celebrated morning show hosts and soca superstars Jason “JW” Williams and Ancil “Blaze” Isaac Jr have been nominated in three categories at the prestigious 30th annual International Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMA) which is scheduled take place in the pair’s vibrant homeland of T&T.
Within recent years JW and Blaze have played a strong role in this country’s pop culture landscape and have dominated radio, television and music with their creativity, wit and infectious personalities.
Beenie Man drives into ‘Sim Simma’
Beenie Man’s infectious summer 1997 hit Sim Simma propelled him to a deal with Virgin Records, which in turn led to the Grammy-winning album Art and Life. In Jamaica, though, Sim Simma ignited a firestorm of outrage from Beenie Man’s many dancehall critics and outright foes, who took issue with the lines “how could I make love to a fellow?/In a rush, pass me the keys to my truck”.