Church wants lewdness stopped

The Jamaica Council of Churches has become the latest addition to the ongoing debate surrounding the purification of Jamaican dancehall music, with the organisation calling for a further ban to be placed on street and community dances, which perpetuate the playing of sexually crude and explicit songs.

The umbrella church agency has further called on the police to exercise a zero–tolerance approach towards both public and private vehicles with heavily tinted windows that play loud and vulgar music, claiming that this is contributing to the general degradation of morals in society.

Jamaican prof ‘sounds like he has a vendetta’

St Vincent soca crooner Kevin Lyttle and Bermudan reggae act Colin “Collie Buddz” Harper have both come out in support of soca music, following recent controversy over statements made by Jamaican lecturer Dr Kwame Nantambu during an interview on a Jamaican radio station.

Speaking to the Express from Miami yesterday, Lyttle said: “That’s crazy! If he has a problem with one song, or one lyric, then as a professor he has the right to address the issue in a more formal manner and organise a petition; have it signed by a number of people, proving that the song is offensive and causes harm to many people in society and it’s not just his opinion.

San Diego Reggae Sound Systems and Culture

Reggae music and culture in San Diego doesn’t stop with the Tribute to the Reggae Legends concert. It continues with the sound systems spinning the tunes, the restaurants creating the Jamaican cuisine and specialty shops providing the culture.

A little history, during the 1950s in Jamaica, a speaker box, amplifier and a record player was the state of the art equipment and the components of the first sound system. Most couldn’t afford a record player instead paying entry fees into something called a dancehall.

Rapper Lil Jon goes soca

Lil Jon is known to the hip-hop world as the King of Crunk, a hit-making rapper and producer. What they probably don’t know is that his musical journey began as a dancehall selector on the now disbanded Four Seasons sound system in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.

Now, the entertainer whose real name is Jonathan Smith, is coming full circle flirting with his love for Caribbean music by injecting his unique crunk flavour into this year’s festivities at Trinidad Carnival.

A Tribute to The Reggae Legends

For 28 years San Diego reggae fans have embraced, nurtured and grown the Tribute to the Reggae Legends Festival (formerly Bob Marley Festival). They co-exist as one, united.

Reggae concerts were once rare in San Diego, as artists preformed only in major cities populated with West Indian people. Makeda Dread Cheatom of the WorldBeat Center, felt the empowerment of reggae music, and in 1981, she brought to San Diego its first Bob Marley Festival at downtown’s Community Concourse.

Venture Seeks to Cash In On Bob Marley’s Image

Reggae singer Bob Marley’s name and likeness have been slapped on unauthorized merchandise since his death in 1981. Now, the Marley family and a private equity firm that invests in retail brands are preparing a major push to license Mr. Marley’s likeness, trademarks and themes to apparel, food and even video games.

Hilco Consumer Capital, which has compiled a stable of retail brands including Halston and Ellen Tracy, this month invested some $20 million for half of House of Marley LLC, a joint venture with the Marley family, according to people familiar with the matter

‘You’re all social hypocrites’ – Kartel writes letter lashing out at ‘Rampin’ Shop’ critics

Popular deejay Adidja ‘Vybz Kartel’ Palmer is defending his Rampin’ Shop and has sought to speak out against the critics of the song.

In a letter which he sent to THE STAR on the weekend, the deejay responded to an article which was done by Esther Tyson titled ‘Rampin’ Shop – musical poison’, which begged for a stop to be placed on “the promotion of such filth”.

The original Mr Boombastic thinks Dubai is fantastic

No stranger to the UAE, reggae star Shaggy returns to Dubai this week to perform at Festival City on Thursday. The concert, which is part of DSF 2009, marks the Boombastic hitmaker’s third visit to the emirate, his last being 2007′s appearance at the Life Music Festival. Emirates Business caught up with the artist in Australia for his only UAE newspaper interview.

Natty Dread Band gives impression that Reunion Islands belong to Bob Marley

For members of the Natty Dread Band from the Reunion Islands, Bob Marley is more of a saint than a musician. The group of French-speaking musicians spoke as if the reggae icon was from their country and not Jamaica.

Performing in Jamaica is a dream not just for them, but for every group that plays reggae in Reunion Islands. And visiting Jamaica is a dream come true and is something that they will treasure for a long time.

The Whole Wide World: Peter Tosh’s The Ultimate Experience

More than 20 years since Peter Tosh’s 1987 assassination, the Wailers co-founder’s legacy (as well as Bob Marley’s) live on around the world, but that rings especially true in his native Jamaica, where he burst out of poverty and misery to become one of the most recognizable names in reggae. On a recent trip to the island – I stayed in a hotel close to Negril beach, not far from Bob Marley’s house, which has become a tourist attraction – I couldn’t help but notice that his music, especially the material he recorded with the original Wailers, was as present as ever.