An Ode to the Coconut Jelly Man
Shanique Marie is preparing for relaunch of her debut EP Uno in a deluxe edition this summer and is excited about the possibilities. Her incendiary single, “Coconut Jelly Man” featuring Cali P, first released in November 2015, is seeing another steep rise in popularity as the warm weather approaches and coconut cravings run amok. Video After The Jump…
Rocking With Jamaica’s First All-Female Reggae Ensemble
From the Maroon heroine Nanny to Louise Bennett and Grace Jones, Jamaican history is filled with powerful women. Still, the reggae music industry has remained a largely male-dominated field—which may explain why keyboardist and vocalist Karissa Palmer always wanted to be part of a reggae band made up solely of women. As far back as 2013 she had the vision for the group that would become Adahzeh—a name that means ‘The King’s daughters” in one of Africa’s hundreds of languages. Enlisting bassist Chevanese Palmer, lead vocalist Kadian Hamilton, drummer Tashana Barnett and guitarist Tara-Dean Williamson, the group, under the guidance of D’Empire management, made a splash last year with “Girls Like We” featuring Tifa. Now they’re back with a new video called “Island Girl,” a proud statement of self-respect that doubles as a long-distance love story. He lives in NYC; she lives in Jamaica and “the embassy no wan’ fi leggo the visa.” Tune in for some sweet rub-a-dub music plus a happy resolution to the lovers’ dilemma. Video After The Jump… (more…)
Free Up Yourself For The Crop Over
Although Trinidad’s carnival is renowned as one of the wickedest parties throughout the Caribbean, Crop Over in Barbados is no joke. Just ask Rihanna, who rarely misses the bacchanal in her home island. The Mega Cavalcade is going down tonight, with a crazy lineup of soca acts ready to set it off. If you can’t make it there to witness the action live, the least you can do is peep this new video of 2015 Crop Over highlights, all set to one of the hottest tunes for Crop Over 2016, Jus D’s cutting-edge soca fusion selection “Give It To Me,” produced by Livity Movements’ Dev Kutta and Guyana’s DRWTHVN. The ting tun up now. Video After The Jump… (more…)
What’s Your Favorite Way To Cure Pain?
The Vybz Kartel Vevo channel sure is poppin’ these days. With Kartel’s highly anticipated King of the Dancehall album set to drop next week, the “Fever” video has been burning up the place, approaching the million-view mark after just two weeks. And then, early this morning, another set of visuals dropped for the World Boss’s track on Good Good Productions’ Cure Pain Riddim, distributed by the mighty 21st Hapilos. This one is called “I’ll Take You There” and we’ve got it for you bright and early. A sexy beach video—what better way to get you in the weekend mood? Video After The Jump… (more…)
“We’ve All Been In Trouble Before”
Born in Hawaii, Kimié Miner fell in love with music at an early age. Inspired by the likes of Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and India Arie, she learned to play guitar and wound up on tour with Barrington Levy at the age of 19. After the tour ended she lived in Jamaica for a few months, building with Mr. Levy in the studio before returning to Hawaii and then on to Hong Kong. “As Hawaiians,” she says, “we have our roots and our routes. We know who we are, and we use that to navigate and explore.” Today Boomshots proudly premieres her video for a new song about the internal struggle within us all. “We want to do well but we all fall off the wagon at some point,” says the artist. “It’s about the realization that we’re not perfect and learning how to deal with that. The only person who can save you is you.” The desolate video was shot as far from the lush island of Hawaii as you can get—amidst the parched sands of California—and features a powerful performance by Archimedes aka Bert the owl, who obviously has a lot on his mind. “This video was something different than anything I’ve done before,” says Kimié (pronounced Kimi-yay). “Shot in the desert at the Bagdad cafe it was a collaborative effort with designer Oday Shakar and Joel Layogan… We’ve all been in trouble before. This song is just about embracing the regret and learning how to move past it.” Video After The Jump… (more…)
Imagine: Two Big DJs, One Night Only—The Choice Is Yours
If you’re a reggae and dancehall fan then you know some of the music’s biggest stars are stuck behind bars. While Busy Signal and Jah Cure have happily come home, Vybz Kartel and Buju Banton are still in captivity. And even though The World Boss finds a way to keep the streets supplied with new tunes on a fairly regular basis, we haven’t seen either artist live in YEARS. Just imagine if both artists were released for just one day, to perform a show for their fans. Now—hypothetically speaking—imagine that both shows were happening on the same night (not in the same place, mind you). In other words, if you had to choose between seeing Kartel or Buju live—right now—which show would you attend? That was the question Chiney K posed to a sampling of her fellow Jamaicans. The results were pretty interesting to say the least. Let’s just say which artist you choose reveals a lot about your personality. Video After The Jump… (more…)
Kalonji Represents For Mama Once Again
Reggae artists have created many touching musical salutes appropriate for Mother’s Day rotation, but few have represented maternal love as consistently as Sizzla Kalonji. From “Black Woman and Child” to “Thank U Mama” the fiery singjay from August Town has contributed more than his fair share of Mother’s Day classics. Today he premieres a new song for mother. Is his latest also his greatest? Check it and let us know in the comments.
Video After The Jump… (more…)
Because There’s Never A Bad Time To Diss The Donald
Not since Cocoa Tea sang Barack Obama’s praises has reggae music paid much attention to electoral politics in the U.S. Of course Bob Marley‘s song “Revolution” warned “Never make a politician grant you a favor.” Why? Because “they will always want to control you forever.” (Bob lived and learned this lesson well.) Back in the day Blue Riddim Band had that “Nancy Reagan” joint but her husband was already in office by then. (Nice tune but too little, too late to make a difference.) Years later Buju Banton sang the opt-out anthem “Politics Time Again (Are You Gonna Vote?)” and Anthony B followed suit with “Nah Vote Again.” Just this year Sizzla Kalonji dropped “Don’t Make Dem Fool You Again” which raised some important issues relating to the Jamaican elections. But reggae music has not had much to say about the insane political race going on up here in the U.S.A.—and that’s too bad. With billionaire real estate mogul, toupee model, beauty pageant pimp, and short-fingered vulgarian Donald Trump looking less like a joke and more like a serious threat to secure the Republican candidate for President—despite the fact that he has repeatedly encouraged his followers to commit acts of violence against the opposition, and the fact that he has called for Mexicans and Muslims (among others) to be denied entry to the U.S., and the fact that he recently received the endorsement of a Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan—it’s time for all clear-thinking defenders of life and liberty and human rights to speak out against everything he represents. In comes the man called Perfect Giddimani (and his bredren Stephen Dajure) with the perfect song at the perfect time. Loud. Video After The Jump… (more…)
Another Gyal Anthem—But Which Part Ah Get Bruk First?
It’s no secret that Konshens is a ladies man. In the past five years, the artiste born Garfield Spence has expressed his affinity for the opposite sex and how much he enjoys seeing them Bounce Like A Ball and Walk and Wine. And in typical SubKonshus Music fashion, the Sherlock native delivers yet another female-friendly record for 2016. Produced by Birchill Records on the popular Moskato Riddim, “Bruk Off Yuh Back” is a call to Kons’ core audience to do just that—or at least bruk sumpn, depending on which version of the tune you prefer—as evidenced in these visual accompaniments (1.5 million & counting!) courtesy of Warrior Films. Video After The Jump…. (more…)
Di Steam Ministah Talks Coachella, Roots & Chalice Mixtape, and Controversy With his “Big Brother” Vybz Kartel
Just after his historic performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Di Steam Ministah sat down with Reshma B for an exclusive interview. They speak about the challenges of being an artist in a material world, the joy of performing live, and how he sees himself as only being in his “infancy” as an artist, as he puts it: “baby stage.” Chronixx talks about being booked on Damian Marley’s 2016 “Welcome to Jamrock Cruise” and goes on to name some of his “Big Brothers” in the reggae music fraternity, mentioning names like Jr. Gong, Mavado, and Vybz Kartel. Chronixx also addresses the controversy surrounding his comments on a recent VICELAND TV show “Noisey Jamaica,” explaining that he overstands the fact that the media is more concerned with clicks and views than with telling a fair and balanced story. “Artists have to be artists, media have to be media. I can’t make the media determine how I feel.” Videos After The Jump… (more…)
Cali Reggae Duo Taps The Turf Prez
Rebelution frontman, Eric Rachmany, and DJ/producer Amp Live are definitely on to something with their side project Unified Highway. Ever since Boomshots premiered their video for “My Space” in January the response to their genre-bending sonic alchemy has been overwhelming. “This album is actually pretty diverse,” Eric told us back then. “Every song is a little bit different from the other, so we are excited for people to hear the diversity.” His words are borne out by their latest video, the sun-and-bikini-bonanza called “My Only” featuring sixteen blazing bars from Busy Signal. “Honestly, I’m not saying this to brag or anything but I really feel like this project is groundbreaking. It’s different from anything I’ve ever heard or been a part of.” Leggo. Video After The Jump… (more…)
The Dappa Continues To Explore The Unspoken Dramas That Unfold In The Bedroom
As the Jamaican Proverb goes, who cyaa hear aguh feel. And for budding dancehall crooner Dexta Daps, he learns the hard way from his main female Denyque in the video treatment for “F U.” Shot by Dunwell Productions, the tune finds Dappa Don suffering the consequences of all those sexual encounters he sang about in 2013 with “Pretty Nicki,” as him find out seh girlfriend ah f*ck pon him too. Video After The Jump… (more…)