Crossover and outside of core
Beenie Man Is Not The First Reggae Star To Reach Out To Gay Listeners—And He Won’t Be The Last
Late last week, Beenie Man made headlines around the world by releasing a statement on YouTube that was billed as a “video statement” but has been universally described as an “apology.” Listen keenly and see if you hear the word “sorry” or “apologize”… (more…)
Sir RamJam Talks About Getting Sampled On Dubstep Tracks And Bigs Up The Late Great King Stitt
2012 has been a great year for David “RamJam” Rodigan, the veteran UK selector and radio personality. Last month he won Irish & Chin’s World Clash, defeating Bass Odyssey in the final round. The month before that he was invited to Buckingham Palace to be proclaimed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his work as a reggae disc jockey. Not bad for a man who never intended to pursue a career in music. But Rodigan has always been a music lover, and a passionate historian and educator about Jamaican music. In this first of a series of exclusive interviews, the legendary selector and radio presenter speaks about how he’s connecting with a whole new generation of reggae fans since having his unmistakable voice sampled by dubstep producers. He also recalls the first time he saw Jimmy Cliff perform live, and pays respects to the original reggae DJ, the late great King Stitt aka The Ugly One—Who was, among other things, one of the unheralded pioneers of rap music. OK, let’s get to it. (more…)
Damian Marley Connects With The Bad Boy of Electronic Dance Music. Ooh-Wee.
Yesterday the multi-Grammy-winning EDM producer Skrillex dropped an unexpected treat—a new song with multi-Grammy-winning dancehall star Damian Marley, aka Big Gong Zilla. Maybe some reggae purists will wrinkle up their face at this outside-the-box collabo, but this track sounds like the future.
Something Fresh For Spring From K.Licious Music Group’s Brand New 1st Quarters Riddim
Tony “CD” Kelly is back with what the game’s been missing. The Grammy-winning producer who helped turn dancehall music into pop culture—from Patra and Mad Cobra to Beenie, Shaggy and Sean Paul is also the CEO of K.Licious Music Group. Fresh for spring 2012 here comes first big tune off the 1st Quarters Riddim, “Reminisce” featuring Beenie Man and Malica. You already know Beenie as the King of the Dancehall and the Girls Dem Sugar,so get to know Malica Martin, the first female vocalist signed to K. Licious Music Group. Born in Brooklyn, New York to Jamaican parents, Malica grew up between Kingston’s Duhaney Park and New York City. Her dad is the owner of Jamaica’s well-known ‘Love Vibration’ sound system, so it’s no surprise to see Malica pursuing a career in music. No wonder she sounds so natural flowing alongside Beenie Man on the 1st Quarters riddim. (more…)
That’s The Late Great Don Of Dubplate Intros Nicing Up Kanye West’s New Single “Mercy”
Kanye West has the internet going nuts with his latest G.O.O.D. Music release, “Mercy.” Aside from Yeezy himself, the song features Big Sean, Pusha T, and 2 Chainz. But the voice you hear at the top of the track may be less well known to rap heads—even though he’s a legend in the dancehall. That’s Fuzzy Jones, whose gift for manic bugged-out braggadoccio made his dubplate intros a must for any selector looking to execute a soundbwoy in a clash situation. Before his death in 2005—when he was hit by a car while riding his bike near Arrow’s dub studio in Kingston, Jamaica—Fuzzy became so well known that his voice was immortalized on numerous soundclash-themed records like the classic King Tubby’s disc seen above. Read on to find out where the “Mercy” sample came from…
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Barbz Sends For The Girls Dem Sugar To Nice Up Roman Reloaded
As a Trini gal growing up in Queens, Nicki Minaj always had nuff respect for dancehall giants like Beenie, Bounty, and Lady Saw. She even reps Gully and Gaza just like her Young Money bredren. But action speaks louder than words, so we gotta give Nicki props for reaching out to the Doctor as she was putting together her highly anticipated sophomore album, Roman Reloaded. Okay she’s reloaded, but is “Gunshot” a certified Boomshot?
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Even Though He Says “Mavado Is Family,” Drizzy’s A Big Dancehall Fan Who Rates Vybz Kartel Said Speed
During a recent pass through London, Drizzy Drake sat down with Kiss FM to share his views on two of dancehall’s most wanted. We already know he checks for the Gully Gaad. But now it looks like Drake is reppin for Vybz Kartel too. (more…)
Why Are People So Shocked That Snoop Would Dabble In Reggae? Doggy Dogg’s Been At It For Years
Yesterday Diplo had the blogs burning up with news that he’s working on a reggae album with Snoop Dogg. “Snoop Dogg is an icon, man,” the Major Lazer producer told MTV. “He’s bigger than the music. What we’re doing is a reggae record. It’s like Snoop Dogg and Major Lazer together. It’s all reggae and he’s singing and he’s doing a fucking awesome job and I never knew it, but he had his heart in every song… We’re going to get back into the production of it next month, and I’m really proud of that record. It’s the first record I’ve ever executive-produced and his crew is amazing.” This may explain why we recently heard that Popcaan and Snoop made a song together. We can’t wait to hear what Snoop and Diplo come up with. But we’re a little confused that people seem surprised that Snoop would do a reggae song. Sure he’s better known for his pimpadelic G-funk rap hits, but the Doggamuffin has been dabbling in reggae for years. Let’s rewind back from the top…
MTV Iggy Picks I-Octane To Represent “The Future of Music”
I-Octane’s sophomore album Crying To The Nation recently got a big co-sign from MTV Iggy, an online portal focused on highlighting “The Future of Music.” The Jamaican singjay was invited to do an exclusive acoustic performance in New York City, where he unleashed unplugged versions of the album’s title track as well as “L.O.V.E. You,” and “Zion Awaits.” Octane also talked about being raised by a single mother and pursuing his dream of making a career in music. “I don’t really put myself in a box,” he explains. “I am a reggae artist. I come from a reggae genre, a dancehall genre, but I’m just doing music. I try to do my flavor, my style.”
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The Best Spitter In the UK Rips Grime, Garage, and Drum & Bass Beats. It’s a Brummy Fing, Innit?
If you ain’t heard of her already then note the name. From up norf in BUR-MING-UM (Birmingham) UK, The pint-sized lady was the only female repping on the Bass culture discussion which panel explored the influence of reggae on the UK underground scene. “Sorry I weren’t around during that time” she told the panel moderator, former Steel Pulse member Mykaell Riley, when he asked her about something all them years back. Of course she don’t, but the young lady who got her earliest inspiration from Sister Nancy sure knows how to spit. Her take on Chris Brown and Busta’s “Look At Me Now” has notched half a million views—and props from Nicki Minaj among others. Now she says she’s ready to battle Busta! (more…)
The Boss Brought Out The Original Starbwoy For His Headlining Show At SXSW
Photograph by Erin Fotos
We’ve always liked Bruce Springsteen—he’s unpretentious by rock-star standards, his Born To Run album is a straight-up classic, and his E-Street band was no joke. Now we’ve got another reason. During his headlining set last week at SXSW 2012, the Boss brought out Jimmy Cliff, who tore the roof off the brand-new Austin City Limits concert hall.
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Heavy D Flips a Classic Super Cat Sample, Salaam Remi Tees It Up and Nastradamus Spits Fire
It’s well known that Salaam Remi and Nas have a very special creative chemistry—as seen when the producer and MC collaborated on classics like “Made U Look.” What’s less well known is that both are big reggae fans. The track was actually built by the late great Heavy D, whose collabos with Super Cat are well known. Hev passed the track to Remi—who produced Spragga Benz’s epic Shotta Culture album. Nas of course collaborated with Damian Marley on the album Distant Relatives, so Remi felt it was only right to put him on the record. During the Distant Relatives promo run, Nas spoke about his early reggae and dancehall musical menu: “It was the 80s,” he recalled. ‘Who was the dudes? Pass the Dutchie Pon the Left.’ [Musical Youth] It was a lot of old-school cuts. You had Yellowman, of course Bob Marley, Peter Tosh. A lot of the early dudes. We listened to everything. Shabba Ranks, all a that. I was Supercatted-up… I studied the battles with Supercat and Ninjaman.” Now Nas and Remi have brought their mututal interests together on this blazing new cut called “The Don.” Remi’s track is built around a sample from a rare Super Cat single “Dance Inna New York.” Nas’s rap is built on Henny, blunts, and sheer genius. (more…)