Boomshots

Author: Boomshots

  • WATCH THIS: Skip Marley “Let’s Take It Higher” A Boomshots Documentary

    WATCH THIS: Skip Marley “Let’s Take It Higher” A Boomshots Documentary

    Awards Are Nice, But This Two-Time Grammy Nominee Answers To A Higher Calling

    “Live if you wanna live,” Bob Marley declared at the outset of his landmark album Rastaman Vibration, released almost 45 years ago, in April 1976. In the years before Legend, Bob Marley & the Wailers’ 1984 greatest hits collection, which remains the best-selling reggae album of all time, Rastaman Vibration was the record that broke Marley to American audiences, becoming the first Marley LP to reach the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

    On the second track, “Roots Rock Reggae,” Marley took new listeners by the hand and introduced them to a new sound from the faraway island of Jamaica. “Play I some music,” Bob sang, and the I Threes—Rita Marley, Marcia Griffiths, and Judy Mowatt—replied in unison, “This is reggae music.”

    At the start of the second verse, the Tuff Gong pleaded with industry gatekeepers and radio programmers. “Play I on the R&B,” he sang. “I want all my people to see. We’re bubbling on the Top 100 just like a mighty dread.” Bob’s prophecy was fulfilled when the song reached No. 51 on Billboard’s Top 100, but R&B radio would prove harder to penetrate. The top R&B song of 1976 was “I Wish” by Stevie Wonder, who had performed with Marley at Jamaica’s National Stadium the year before. But even white groups like The Steve Miller Band, The Bee Gees, and Hall & Oates were getting more love on American R&B radio than Bob Marley at the time. By 1980 Bob was booked as an opening act for The Commodores at Madison Square Garden, and famously upstaged the headliners but Marley’s earthly mission was soon cut short, to be continued.

    In May 2020, Bob’s grandson Skip Marley reached the top of Billboard’s Top Adult R&B Songs airplay chart with a gorgeous duet called “Slow Down” featuring R&B superstar H.E.R. The artists’ creative chemistry and song’s video made the track a fan favorite. “Slow Down” is nominated for Best R&B Song at the 2021 Grammy Awards this weekend. Skip’s debut project Higher Place is also nominated for the Best Reggae Album Grammy, a milestone in the 24-year-old singer/songwriter/musician/producer’s career.

    In “Let’s Take It Higher,” a new Boomshots documentary premiering today on VIBE.com, Skip reflects on the honor of being nominated for the prestigious awards and of carrying on a mighty legacy in his own unique style. Video After The Jump…
     (more…)

  • Reasoning with Daddy U Roy The Original Dancehall Teacher

    Reasoning with Daddy U Roy The Original Dancehall Teacher

    Paying Respect to a Pioneer of Deejay Music

    The race is not for the swift, but who can endure it. And Jamaica’s foundation deejay Daddy U Roy is still setting the pace. Ewart Beckford, O.D., known to lovers of Jamaican music as U-Roy aka Daddy U Roy the Teacher, passed away last night at the age of 78. As a pioneer of Jamaican deejay music, aka toasting, aka the birth of dancehall, U Roy’s impact on popular music worldwide cannot be overstated.

    In the video for Rah Digga’s “Imperial,” Busta Rhymes shakes his locks into the camera and proclaims that “This station rules the nation with version.” Ardent students of reggae roots will recognize the line as a direct lift from “Rule the Nation,” a musical blast from 1970 that forever changed the soundscape of Jamaica, sending tsunami-sized ripples out from the little island that rocked the world. Never before had an instrumental “version” of a popular song been combined with straight-from-the-dancehall microphone toasting to create a hit single. Working with legendary rock-steady producer Duke Reid, a smooth-talking called U Roy scored not one but three big tunes. “Wake The Town” and “Wear You to the Ball” completed U Roy’s six-week lock on the top three positions in the Jamaican charts, and proved that deejaying (or, as Yankees would rename it, rapping) was here to stay.  Interview Continues After The Jump… (more…)

  • WATCH THIS: Yaadcore “Tension” Official Music Video PREMIERE

    WATCH THIS: Yaadcore “Tension” Official Music Video PREMIERE

    Ask Nuh Question, Nuh Badda Mention

    Did you ever notice something about this journey called life? Funny how sometimes your moment of elevation is the same moment people around you start to feel you gone past your place. When things come to bump, you may be surprised to know who might end up praying for your downfall. More time you find the situation can lead to tension. Like just this morning, Yaadcore forward with a. big new tune. Caan say you never know—it’s been all over social media all weekend. In case you never get the memo, the top rootsman selector of this generation has his own label imprint 12 Yaad Records—because who better to curate some serious sounds? Elevation we say. And yes, he’s an artist too because why not?  Video After the Jump…  

    (more…)

  • Watch The Documentary ‘Studio 17: The Lost Reggae Tapes’

    Watch The Documentary ‘Studio 17: The Lost Reggae Tapes’

    New Doc Tells the Truth About Jamaica’s Recording Industry

    Lee “Scratch” Perry has seen it all. The notoriously eccentric reggae producer, vocalist, and visionary has created classics with artists ranging from Bob Marley & The Wailers to The Clash and The Beastie Boys. A literal living legend, he may be the only person on earth to have collaborated and quarreled with such iconic Jamaican producers as Coxsone Dodd, Joe Gibbs, and King Tubby—and outlived them all. When he burned his own Black Ark studio to the ground in 1979, people called him a madman, but Scratch just has his own way of doing things.

    One rainy night in the English countryside, the British filmmaker Reshma B sat with Scratch in a spooky old mansion, interviewing the man who’s also known as The Upsetter, The Super Ape, and Pipecock Jackxon for her film Studio 17: The Lost Reggae Tapes, which has its worldwide debut today on Quincy Jones’s Qwest.TV and Jay-Z’s Tidal. Video and Full Story After the Jump…
    (more…)

  • “Strong Me Strong” Blessed Earthstrong King Yellowman

    “Strong Me Strong” Blessed Earthstrong King Yellowman

    Nuff Respect to a Dancehall Legend

    Today marks the 65th birthday of Winston Foster, the youth raised in a Jamaican orphanage who was once ostracized for the color of his skin but turned adversity to his advantage on his way to becoming King Yellowman. Born with albinism, the future international celebrity was disowned by his parents but went on to collab with Run-DMC and record a massive catalog of classic tunes, blazing a trail for Jamaican dancehall culture around the world. In honor of his earthstrong, we’ve dipped into the Boomshots archives to share his remarkable story.  Check out Reshma B’s in-depth interview with King Yellowman and his daughter K’Reema recorded backstage in New York City, as well as an in-depth profile published over 20 years ago. Nuff Respect. Video And Article After The Jump…  (more…)

  • HEAR THIS: Runkus ‘IN:SIDE’ Album PREMIERE

    HEAR THIS: Runkus ‘IN:SIDE’ Album PREMIERE

    When We’re Not Outside, Take Care of In:Side

    One of the few redeeming aspects of the year 2020 was the emergence of Runkus as a force to be reckoned with at the forefront of Jamaica’s vibrant music scene. As with many so-called “overnight success” stories, most of the rise of this multitalented singer, deejay, rapper, and producer has occurred under the radar. Or, as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow so memorably put it:

    The heights by great men reached and kept
          Were not attained by sudden flight,
    But they, while their companions slept,
          Were toiling upward in the night.

    Back in the Christmas season of 2014, Runkus popped up on the Reshma B Chains pop-up shop at Manor Park Plaza in Kingston. Identifying himself as “Paula’s son, aka Determine bwoy, aka Joyce grandson, aka Pam nephew” the tall, slim dreadlocks youth with a wide-brimmed hat proceeded to unleash a lyrical barrage alternating between dreamy spliff-fueled melodies and furious fast-chat syllables that promised greater things to come. Flash forward to this past November, when Runkus rolled out his witty “Quarantine Slide” visuals with Boomshots. Today he blesses us with a full album on the Delicious Vinyl Island label, aptly entitled IN:SIDE. “The project came about simply from the times,” says the artist and producer who lists Missy Elliott, Timbaland, and Vybz Kartel—not to mention his brilliantly inventive father Determine—as musical influences. “Being locked down in my home city, Portmore, under order of the Government,” he says, “I took to the only thing I knew, music. In a trying time, it was my salvation.” Album & Videos After The Jump… 

    (more…)

  • Skillibeng Creates “Cinema for Ears” on ‘The Prodigy’ Skilltape

    Skillibeng Creates “Cinema for Ears” on ‘The Prodigy’ Skilltape

    Reasoning With Mr. Universe

    It’s not easy to make a name for yourself in the midst of a viral pandemic, but as Skillibeng explains on his smash hit “Mr. Universe,” he’s built for this. “From before Corona me social distance,” spits Skilli, who celebrated his 24th birthday today with the release of his highly anticipated project, The Prodigy Skilltape, and an interview with Reshma B of Boomshots. It’s been a breakthrough year for the artist known as The Fresh Prince. On the strength of his relentless creativity and tireless work ethic, Skillibeng has emerged as the face of dancehall’s new era. Video After The Jump…
    (more…)

  • Buju Banton’s ‘Til Shiloh’ Marks 25 Year Milestone

    Buju Banton’s ‘Til Shiloh’ Marks 25 Year Milestone

    Reasoning With The Gargamel On The Making of a Classic

    Before Buju’s landmark album Til Shiloh was released in 1995, he stopped by the VIBE offices to give me a preview. We shut the door of my office, popped a cassette in the stereo, and burned a spliff in the middle of the day while I heard songs like “Untold Stories” and “Til I’m Laid to Rest” for the first time. Songs like “Champion” and “Murderer” were already dancehall anthems, as was the late Garnet Silk’s “Complaint,” which Buju had enhanced with his raggamuffin DJ flow. As we wrapped up the listening session it became clear to me that Buju had created a timeless classic. A quarter of a century later, Buju has gone over many hills and valleys and he’s still standing strong. He appeared on the cover of VIBE in celebration of his long-awaited album, Upside Down 2020, which has since been nominated for a Best Reggae Album Grammy Award. And today Til Shiloh, recently certified gold by the Recording Industry Institute of America, marks its 25th anniversary with a deluxe reissue that features three exciting new tracks. In honor of the occasion, here is the converstion we had on that day back in 1995.  Interview After The Jump… (more…)

  • WATCH THIS: Jada Kingdon “Green Dreams” Official Music Video & Exclusive Interview

    WATCH THIS: Jada Kingdon “Green Dreams” Official Music Video & Exclusive Interview

    Twinkle Secures The Bag

    2020 will not go down as the easiest year in history, but Jada Kingdom has made the best of a tough situation. “It’s been a difficult year for everybody,” she says, “but I have channeled all my energy into being creative.” The Jamaican recording artist and swimwear designer can look back over a year of successes, from her mixtape E-Syde Queen: The Twinkle Playlist to  features on Popcaan’s red-hot Yiy Change Fixtape and Vybz Kartel’s soul-baring To Tanisha project. Back in August we premiered the music video for “Budum,” her first single for Diplo’s Mad Decent label, and watched her career launch to another level. She recently graced the cover of Tidal’s 2020 Reggae & Dancehall Rising playlist. And today she wraps the year up with a brand new music video, “Green Dreams.” Video After The Jump…
    (more…)

  • WATCH THIS: Stonebwoy and Davido Connect In The “ACTIVATE” Music Video #PREMIERE

    WATCH THIS: Stonebwoy and Davido Connect In The “ACTIVATE” Music Video #PREMIERE

    Ghana x Nigeria Link Up

    We last tapped in with Ghana’s Afro-Dancehall monarch Stonebwoy when he premiered his “Blaze Dem” freestyle on VIBE x Boomshots to follow up the victory lap for his Anloga Junction album. Now he’s joined forces with Nigerian Afrobeats superstar Davido, who’s fresh off the relase of his album A Better Time, which features collabs with Nicki Minaj, Young Thug, Chris Brown, Nas and Hit-Boy. “The inspiration behind this song is to ACTIVATE positive energy,” says  Stonebwoy. “To ACTIVATE love and to ACTIVATE on the dance floor and see the combination of Afrobeats and Dancehall take over the world.” Stone & David have known each other as far back as 2015, but “Activate” marks their first time collaborating. More than just popular entertainers, both artists are using their platforms for positive works. Davido has been on the front lines of the resistance movement against Nigeria’s abusive SARS police unit, while Stonebwoy recently led a massive march to promote peace and unity and good health in Ghana. The song was born out of a spontaneous vibe whilst Davido was on a weekend trip from Nigeria to Ghana. The video was shot the following day.​ VIBE and Boomshots are proud to premiere the visuals. Watch as two African icons come together to create musical magic. Video After The Jump…
    (more…)

  • WATCH THIS: Runkus “Quarantine Slide” Official Music Video PREMIERE

    WATCH THIS: Runkus “Quarantine Slide” Official Music Video PREMIERE

    Facetime Flexin’ with the Ladies

    Fresh off the success of his futuristic posse cut “5Gz,”—which featured the lyrical onslaught of Kabaka Pyramid, Jesse Royal, Royal Blu, and Munga Honorable—Runkus returns on a solo flex with fresh sounds called “Quarantine Slide.” Son of the brilliant if under-rated dancehall DJ Determine, Runkus was surrounded by music from an early age, and raised in an era where Jamaican youth were exposed to diverse outernational influences. “Our generation grew up on MTV and BET, so anything the international market showed us is what we drew to,” he told The Gleaner last year. “The first rapper I loved on my own was Missy Elliott, then I got into Timbaland productions, Lil Wayne, Notorious B.I.G., Tupac… At the same time, I got into other sounds, like Erykah Badu, Nina Simone, Justine Timberlake, all while listening to Vybz Kartel.” The dreamy synth-driven production on his latest release—courtesy of Runkus and Universal Zinc Fence from the Soul Circle family—bears traces of those diverse influences, including shout-outs to the WorlBoss and Shawn Storm. “The song was just an inspiration of the times,” says Runkus. “For those who are stuck inside with their significant others and for those who are stuck inside on their own, wanting to slide [lol]. We have to move forward but I wouldn’t advise anyone to get used to this as the ‘new normal’ but to create a new normal for themselves and loved ones, cause we only have each other.” Today Boomshots proudly premieres the brand new music video from Runkus. “The video was inspired by just being stuck inside,” says the artist / producer, “and thinking of the best most efficient way of displaying wanting to slide in the quarantine time — hence the constant calls.” Video After The Jump… (more…)
  • WATCH THIS: Sizzla “Without You” Official Music Video PREMIERE

    WATCH THIS: Sizzla “Without You” Official Music Video PREMIERE

    Some Sweet Love Songs From Kalonji

    “Righteousness will always get a fight,” Sizzla Kalonji once told me, “and that is only to make you stronger.” That conversation took place in 1997, he year Sizzla electrified lovers of reggae and dancehall music with two landmark albums, Praise Ye Jah and Black Woman & Child. Sizzla has gone on to become one of the most prolific artists of his generation, releasing his most recent album, Million Times in September—a collection of 12 sweet love songs, touching on the sounds that made songs like “Just One of Those Days” and “Give Me A Try” so legendary. “Beautiful people want to listen to the beautiful reggae music,” Sizzla told me. “And you know reggae bashes against corruption. It’s not just a music to sing spirituality only and to make you feel good and sing love songs, conscious songs. And it’s good for social commentary, a very good music to be used for social commentary. And any little thing happen to the poor people, we’re quick to express ourselves on dancehall riddims and on the one-drop roots rock reggae riddim. And what we’re explaining and expressing is the total truth. It’s a music that can be used for expressing our innermost feelings and thoughts.” Today VIBE and Boomshots proudly premiere the new music video from the album “Without You.” Big Up Kalonji every time.  Video After The Jump…
    (more…)