Two new singles and three-continent tour for Sean Paul

With two new tracks and a three-continent tour for April, Jamaican dancehall superstar Sean Paul is keeping quite busy these days. Sean Paul, who returned from performances in Africa recently, is also toasting the success of his single with British-born pop sensation Jay Sean, Do You Remember, which is featured on the iconic pop music compilation Now That’s What I Call Music.

Sean Paul’s two newest singles, Fire Brigade and Down The Line, are destined as sure-fire club pleasers. Down The Line, produced by Jeremy Harding, is a reggae-flavoured slow-melody love song which is featured on his popular mixtape, The Oddessy. The Don Corleone-produced Fire Brigade, however, is an unmistakable dancehall tune with all the up-tempo energy party lovers crave and for which Sean Paul has become famous.

Rocksteady: the Roots of Reggae

BORN in the Jamaican dance halls of the late 1960s, ”rocksteady” is the catchy musical style that led directly to reggae, with an accentuated bassline and a slow, driving rhythm.

Whether or not that description rings a bell, you’ll probably be able to hum along with songs like The Tide Is High and Rivers of Babylon, famously covered by, respectively, Blondie and Boney M.

Traditional reggae acts will rise

Veteran Jamaican broadcaster Lister Hewan-Lowe believes the recent troubles of dancehall artistes with United States
(US) authorities will open the door for traditional reggae acts in that country.

Hewan-Lowe, who hosts two programmes on Stonybrook University’s WUSB 90.1 FM radio station, was in Kingston last week. He told The Gleaner that reggae promoters in the US will not be pressured to find alternatives because some top dancehall artistes have reportedly lost their US visas.

Third World to host live stream of band rehearsal

The world’s longest-running reggae band is set to host ‘Third World Band Rehearsals LIVE!’. The informal, online-only rehearsal will be streamed live on www.ination. tv/thirdworldbandlive and www.thirdworld.com on Saturday, May 8, at 7 p.m. for Caribbean and United States audiences, and rebroadcast May 9 at 1 a.m. for audiences in Europe and Africa.

The live stream is part of the band’s 35th anniversary celebration, which will allow approximately 1.2 million viewers globally to be part of this experience. The broadcast will feature the worldwide premiere of the video for their new single, The Spirit Lives, a dedication to the people of Haiti and a preview of the making of the video for By My Side, featuring Tessanne Chin.

Sugarloaf will be alive with sounds of reggae

People don’t step off the plane at Montego Bay airport carrying a pair of skis. And they don’t appear at the base of Sugarloaf Mountain wearing sandals and perking their ears for island sounds.

At least not usually.

But starting Thursday and continuing through the weekend, island music and revelry will prevail, along with those colorful short-sleeved shirts typically reserved for tropical vacations.

Ky-Mani Marley, son of Bob Marley, grew up outside family circle

His name is Marley, but Ky-Mani didn’t grow up as Jamaican royalty like most of his brothers and sisters.

He was born in poverty in Falmouth, Jamaica, without even the luxury of an indoor kitchen or bathroom. His mom, table tennis champion Anita Belnavis, had a brief romance with reggae king Bob Marley, who had children with and without his wife, Rita.

Visa woes taint music industry

Fellow entertainers may not benefit from the group of five whose visas were recently revoked, as the entire industry has been tainted, said booking agencies.

Top artistes with US visas now include Capleton, Tarrus Riley, Elephant Man, Assassin, Chino, Voicemail, and Sean Paul, however, US promoters may avoid these and other local deejays altogether due to the risk of subsequent revocations.

Bounty Killer denied bail, but …

Deejay Bounty Killer will have to spend at least the next week in jail after he was denied bail in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday on assault charges.

The deejay, real name, has been in custody since Monday when he was arrested on a warrant by officers from the Constant Spring Police Station.

Dancehall hit! United States visa woes will cost Jamaican entertainers big

Local dancehall stars Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Mavado and Aidonia, as well as selector Ricky Trooper, are set to lose millions of dollars in earnings based on United States decision to revoke their visas.

Last Wednesday, news came that the US had decided to revoke the visas of the five but, so far, there has been no word from the embassy in St Andrew as to why.

Dancehall’s decline

Bans, stop orders and incarceration. Is Jamaican music, or more specifically Dancehall, under threat? Are forces hostile to certain strains in popular Jamaican musical expression conspiring to suppress what they deem a cultural contagion? As I indicated in one of my recent articles in which I supported Charles Campbell’s position that overseas opportunities for Jamaican acts are dwindling the doors are closing. Many reasons are being adduced and much blame is being ascribed. Whatever the reasons and whoever the culprits there is one inescapable fact: we are running out of options. This is certainly not a matter on which I take any pleasure reporting.