Lord of the dancehall: Capleton brings positive attitude on tour

It’s tough for outsiders to differentiate among dancehall reggae singers. But once you hear and see Capleton, you won’t confuse him with anyone else: He’s the bearded guy in a head wrap with the big heart and sandpaper voice.

“Humility and tolerance is important,” said Capleton, who plays Pufferbellies in Hyannis Thursday night and Club Lido in Revere Friday. “I know how to interact with my fans. It’s more about humanity than money. I don’t put nothing before people.”

Island sounds return to desert for music festival

Songs can both soothe and singe the soul — in a single stride.

“Life has always been a struggle; Distrust, fear and obstacles; Many are called, but few are chosen; Why can’t we all be merciful?”

Now set the words against the gently percussive rhythm and exotic melodic flavor of Jamaica.

K Queens debut on Gregory Isaacs’ Brand New Me Europe tour

“Gregory’s tour was good. If all the shows weren’t sold out totally, the crowd was still massive. Every show was the same thing, big crowds, great performances,” the dancehall twin sisters K-Queens told Observer last Thursday.

The sisters, who were touring Europe for the first time, performed at some 25 venues in five weeks as opening act for singer Gregory Isaac’s tour for his latest album, Brand New Me.

I spy Caribbean’s top hideout

Spy thriller writer Ian Fleming chose his fictional hero’s name after reading Birds Of The West Indies by James Bond. And both 007 and the author of the wildlife book would have felt at home in the Antiguan jungle.

There, 25 young ladies competing for the Homecoming Queen contest. Harnessed on to a zip-wire, they flung themselves into the depths of the rainforest. Bond would no doubt have relished the opportunity to rescue the damsels whose terrifying screams disturbed the large soldier crab who had been rather sleepy up until that point.

Celebrating Reggae

The Sounds and Pressure Committee must be commended for co-ordinating yesterday’s church service to kick off the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of reggae music. The fact that it was just a handful of persons who showed up for this occasion must be lamented, but it in no way reflected the hours of planning and preparation done by the committee.

Revving up for reggae

On a recent Saturday night, the dance floor crowd at Basta Bar and Grill in Weymouth was a cultural and generational mosaic.

Blacks and whites were represented in roughly equal numbers. People of all ages, from 20-somethings who looked barely old enough to get in the door, to silver-headed revelers who might have been their grandparents, grooved to the music. Styles ranged from preppy to punk to beachy to hippie to Rasta.

Columbia Records’ love-hate relationship with reggae

When the various annals of reggae are written it will not be complete unless major labels are accorded their rightful place for how they accommodated some of reggae’s finest artistes and their love-hate relationship with the genre.

Of course, the human element must be taken into consideration and for that reason the name David Kahne must be mentioned. A musician/arranger who became a producer and later a senior executive at Columbia Records, Kahne was the man who signed a slew of reggae acts in the 1980s.

The beats go on: the rise of reggae’s sinister side

The opening of The Harder They Come at the Playhouse Theatre returns us with a bang to the moment reggae entered the world. There had been one-off ska hits from Jamaica before. But the 1972 Perry Henzell film this musical is based on, and the soundtrack album, mostly by its star, Jimmy Cliff, showed outsiders the Kingston streets, simmering with heat and violence, where the music was made. Playing “rude bwoy” Ivan Martin, a sweet-voiced country boy who comes to the city to make his fortune, is burnt by Jamaica’s corrupt music industry, and in his fury becomes a gun-toting ghetto legend, Cliff offered a microcosm of reggae’s impoverished roots, aspirations and eventual, bloody decline. Island Records’ Jamaican boss, Chris Blackwell, modelled Bob Marley’s early persona on this archetype, setting the stage for the 20th century’s most globally potent superstar, and reggae’s growth as an international force.

Stacious: Shoes, Sex and Secrets

In a Splash exclusive, the dancehall fire-starter talks about breaking off an engagement and why she’ll be around for a long time to come – and breaks her silence on the pesky rumours about her relationship with some guy named Mavado

Stacy Scarlett, better known to fans as Stacious, is having a glamour girl moment. Looking fresh to death in full black (a small, short-sleeved blouse, jeans and wedged platforms), she’s tossing back her long hair extensions as she dishes on her love for shoes – sexy, ladylike footwear and the occasional pair of Timbs.

Rags to rhythms to riches: Music a way out of poverty for many

The story of dancehall and reggae is often one of rags to riches for artistes of impoverished origins, singing and deejaying to make a ‘trailer load of money’.

It is no surprise that people turn to music as a means out of poverty, as today it provides many income-earning opportunities. Using music as a means out of the ghetto has been recurrent in the history of reggae and dancehall. Early reggae stars were those from the inner cities, ‘garrisons’ and rural areas, who travelled far and wide to pursue a career in music, believing that it would uplift them from the lives they were living.