The ever-popular singer of such hits as ‘Oh Carolina’ and ‘Mr Boombastic’ stalks towards the catering portacabin and smashes a video cassette against it. He grinds the tape and plastic casing into an unbroadcastable mess, then exits the area, fuming.
In Britain, Shaggy hasn’t been big news since 2001, and his biggest hit ‘It Wasn’t Me’ but he has continued to do good business in other countries.
There are all sorts of reasons a musician might disappear into the pop-culture ether, seemingly without a trace: substance abuse, a religious epiphany, a loss of inspiration, the kind of shift in musical trends or listener tastes that makes an artist seem out-of-step overnight. If you’re Claudius Linton, reggae singer, you might decide to say simply “no more” after too many years spent pushing against a business that blithely rips off artists if it means a few more nickels in the coffers.
When Packy Malley, promoter of the Mid-West Reggae Fest, says, “The bottom line is, it has to be profitable,” he’s only telling half the story. The other half is that while Malley is a businessman who also works in his family business, Malley’s Chocolates, he’s one of the area’s most avid reggae enthusiasts, and the Mid-West Reggae Fest, which celebrates its 17th year this weekend, is as much a labor of love as a moneymaking opportunity.
White reggae hits Jamaica – Mail & Guardian Online: The smart news source
For a small place, Jamaica exerts a big influence. It covers an area of less than 11,000kms, with fewer than three million inhabitants. But ask anyone with even a passing interest in music to name its principal export and you’ll get the same answer: reggae. Once it leaves Kingston, however, this Jamaican product takes on new tinges.
Now there is a new crop of white reggae performers, eschewing the melanin-deficient basslines and embarrassing attempts at patois that have caught out their predecessors
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Adrian Clarke: No stranger to Jamaica
The newly crowned King of Calypso Monarch Adrian Clarke says he is no stranger to Jamaica, despite the fact that he has only visited the island once for a performance at the University Campus.
“But I have a lot of Jamaican friends – a lot of Jamaican friends!” he said. “One thing I always say is that Jamaicans are one set of people who are proud to be themselves…”
Ava Leigh: the girl who fell for Lover’s Rock
From Eric Clapton to 10cc, pop is littered with white guys trying to “do†reggae, with very mixed results.
But now a 22-year-old woman from Chester is trying to change that. Ava Leigh has a powerful voice like retro-soul divas Duffy and Adele – but she sets it to a lilting Jamaican beat. I watched her perform at London’s Jazz Café a year ago, supporting the Seventies roots singer Freddie McGregor. Leigh took to the stage barefoot, and when she spoke between songs, she wasn’t pretending to be black, or from Kingston, or from Hackney, or even to be “streetâ€. She was simply herself, singing beautifully in a style that she inhabited totally through her sheer enthusiasm.
Remaking a rhythm or duplicating it does not necessarily mean that a rhythm was not good enough but it might be a testament that the first was exceptional.
There have been some memorable dancehall rhythms over the past two decades, and recently, there have been remakes of these older rhythms on the airwaves.
Reggae Rising Festival unites family and culture under umbrella of One Love’
Thousands of reggae music and culture fans are gathered this weekend in Piercy for the second annual Reggae Rising Festival. New this year is the availability of single-day tickets for Sunday, allowing those who may not be able to commit to the entire three-day festival an opportunity to experience the world famous event.
The music so far has been incredible. Festival attendees have already enjoyed some 22 acts…
Another successful staging of Reggae Sumfest
Reggae Sumfest, the highly anticipated four-day festival kicked off with a bang at the annual beach party on Sunday July 13. Patrons from various parishes plus overseas visitors came out in their numbers to support up-and-coming talents such as Rising Star’s very own Nickesha Barnes and Romaine Virgo.
American takes ‘Dancehall Queen’ title
Twenty-three-year-old Michelle Young, of Boston in the United States, created history yesterday morning at the Pier One Complex, in Montego Bay, when she became the first American to win the coveted Red Label Wine International Dancehall Queen title.
“I have never been this happy in my entire life,” said the diminutive Young, as tears of joy rolled down her cheeks. “I am going to cherish this moment for the rest of my life – I am on top of the world.”