Boomshots

Category: Throwback

  • WATCH THIS: Vybz Kartel Intros the Portmore Empire

    WATCH THIS: Vybz Kartel Intros the Portmore Empire

    The Werlboss Bigs Up His Gaza Affiliates

    The year is 2011. Vybz Kartel is a free man at the peak of his fame and success. Shortly after ripping the stage at Reggae Sumfest Dancehall Night, he welcomes Boomshots into his backstage tent to meet the members of his Portmore Empire crew, from Popcaan “The Prefect” aka Young World to Vanessa Bling aka Gaza Slim to Sheba “the Diva” and a fresh new recruit named Tommy Lee. Within a few months Kartel would be arrested and the whole landscape of dancehall would shift. Now that Popcaan and Tommy Lee have become major stars it’s fascinating to look back, and amazing to see how things have changed in such a short space of time. Video After The Jump… (more…)

  • HEAR THIS: Johnny Osbourne “Mr. Marshall”

    Check Out Where Major Lazer Got The Vocals For Their Soon To Be Released Single “Jah No Partial”

    While we anxiously await the release of Major Lazer’s new single (set to drop Monday 22nd October), we thought it would be nice to take a listen to the song that inspired it all. Johnny Osbourne’s 1980’s classic “Mr. Marshall” chronicled the daily struggle with police violence in the ghetto.  Take a trip down memory lane after then jump. (more…)

  • HEAR THIS: Papa San Names Out 106 DJs

    Live & Direct From The Big Firgo Digital vs. King Addies vs. King Kustom Clash @ Biltmore Ballroom 1989

    In those bygone days when sounds used to carry dubplates instead of laptops, three champion sounds collided at Brooklyn’s legendary Biltmore Ballroom. Big tunes were brandished, but the competition was not only limited to the turntable. In keeping with tradition, live DJs were also repping for each sound system. And none hit harder that night than Papa San. People sleep on San these days, but back in 89 nobody was touching his rapid-fire flow. As Sleepy Wonder points out “Bwoy San you talk fast, you talk slow, you talk frontway, you talk backway—what else leave?” Of all the styles Pupa San flung down that night, this one stands out. We’re still trying to calculate whether he mentioned all 106 DJ names as promised. Hey kids! Get ready for some real live dancehall culture. Audio after the jump… (more…)

  • HEAR THIS: Wilfred Limonious “Young Love”

    Who Knew That Dancehall’s Greatest Graphic Artist Was A Wicked Singer Too?

    When Matt Goias sent me this tune via email the subject line read simply “Peep The Singer,” I had no idea what to make of it. On first listen “Young Love” sounded like just another reggae rarity — a slightly randy lover’s rock selection about a lonely old man man who’s had his eye on a pretty young thing for years. But then Matt forwarded the seven-inch single’s label, lovingly rendered in shades of blue. No doubt about it, that’s the work of Limonious, the undisputed champion of dancehall album art. The prolific—and sadly now deceased—artist has attracted something of a cult following.  And that was before we knew he could sing too.

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  • WATCH THIS: Tippa Lee & Rappa Robert “Nuh Trouble We” Video

    Time For a Certified Boomshot Throwback… Yuh Think We Easy?

    The baddest dancehall duo since Michigan & Smiley is also one of the most slept on acts in reggae history. With the amount of jewelry these two wore, Tippa and Rappa created excitement without even touching the mic. So imagine what happened once they started spitting hilarious lyrics and on-point harmonies over a raw Redman digi riddim. Can you say Certified Boomshot? (more…)

  • WATCH THIS: Jimmy Cliff “Many Rivers To Cross” LIVE

    40 Years After Starring In The Harder They Come, He’s Still Coming Hard

    As Vivien Goldman observed in her excellent review of Jimmy Cliff’s recent unplugged set at Miss Lily’s Variety, for Mr. Cliff “every night is like a first night.” Standing three feet away from the 63-year-old living legend—watching him strum his guitar and feeling him nail every high note while perched on a bar stool with his cap to the back—was enough to make me forget half the live shows I’ve ever seen. Thankfully, LargeUpTV captured the moment for posterity, so you don’t need to be mad if you were unable to squeeze in there with the Miss Lily’s posse that night, or you somehow missed the live broadcast (including Pat McKay’s irie interview) on Sirius Satellite Radio. (more…)

  • The Mystery Of Danny Coxson

    Deadly Dragon Dares To Dig Up Digital Dancehall

    25 years ago a young, Trench Town–born Donovan McLeod a.k.a. Danny Coxson a.k.a Ever Red stepped into a London studio. In one tuff take he created some of the most revered, most whispered about tracks of the 1980s digital revolution. And then, like some mythic Keyser Söze, he was gone. (more…)

  • WATCH THIS: Buju Banton Video Mix

    Nothing Left To Say But Let The Music Play…
    Special request to the Gargamel and his entire family.
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  • Tribute To The Late Great Sonia Pottinger 1931-2010

    8 Certified Boomshots From Reggae’s Foremost Female Producer

    To say the reggae industry is male dominated might be the understatement of all time. Jamaica’s first, foremost, and arguably only serious female producer was Sonia E. Pottinger, who died last Wednesday November 3rd at the age of 79. Introduced to the music biz by her husband Lyndon Pottinger, she opened the Tip Top record shop in 1965 and started producing the following year. Serious selectors covet all the rock steady and roots classics released on her Tip Top, Highnote, and Gayfeet labels. In 1974 Pottinger bought Duke Reid’s Treasure Isle label shortly before his passing (and she won a big court case just last year retaining her rights to the legendary imprint, which she soon made available online). She was eventually recognised with the Order of Distinction for her contribution to the development of Jamaican music

    “Ms. Pottinger, I rate her highly,” legendary soundman Winston “Merritone” Blake told this Sunday’s Jamaica Observer. “For her to enter the music scene at the time she did, going up against the giant record producers in Coxsone and Duke Reid, required tremendous courage. And the kind of music that she produced was unquestioned. They have stood the test of time.” On that note, let’s rewind back some of Ms. P’s Certified Boomshots… (more…)

  • HEAR THIS: Mad Coba & Yami Bolo “War Mongers”

    DJ Tells Gunmen “Too Much War… Cool Star” In Timely 1995 Selection

    Mad Cobra was 18 years old when he made his name on the dancehall scene with 1990 hits on the Penthouse label like “Yush” and “Gundelero.” By 1992 he had reached the top of Billboard’s rap chart with the international hit “Flex,” and since then The Big Snake has maintained his standing as one of the top year-to-year artists in dancehall. So it was a huge shock to learn last week that he had been shot in the chest near his home in Braeton, Portmore. (more…)

  • DUNGLOAD Screechy Dan & Red Fox “Fall In Love”

    Flatbush Connection Links Up To Represent For The BK Dancehall Massive


    All through the 90s, Screechy Dan & Red Fox kept Brooklyn’s dancehall scene on the map along with producer Sting Intl and sparring partners like Bajja Jedd, Nikey Fungus, Rayvon, and a Boombastic youth named Shaggy.

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  • HEAR THIS: Early B “DJ Origination”

    Special Request To The Original Doctor, Going Down In Dancehall History

    One more reason to remember September 11: Seven years after Peter Tosh’s 1987 murder in Kingston, the foundation dancehall artist Early B The Doc was killed by a stray shot in a Boston dancehall session 15 years ago today. To call Early B a dancehall legend doesn’t nearly do the man justice. He was a DJ’s DJ, a styistic innovator, a mentor and sparring partner of Super Cat the Don Dada, and a vast repository of information who crammed as much raw data into his lyrics as possible. He was also an ardent student of the culture he chronicles in this 1983 cut on the Sonic Sounds label. “Now I dedicate this style to all the DJs over the years who have been champions, from Daddy Roy straight down to King Yellowman, from Josey Wales and Chaplin and even I Early B the Doctor. Laaaaaawd.” Let it go… (more…)