Havana Meets Kingston – Expertly Blending The Sounds of Two Distinct Islands
On November 3rd, VP Records/17 North Parade will release “Havana Meets Kingston.” The innovative, culture-centric album pairs legendary and emerging Cuban and Jamaican musicians to reimagine classic songs and create new compositions, infused with Jamaican reggae and dancehall, traditional Cuban and Afro-Cuban rhythms. Produced by Australia’s leading reggae and dancehall producer Mista Savona (aka Jake […]
The Top 10 Damian Marley Songs
Damian Robert Nesta Marley, also known as “Jr. Gong”, is a reggae musician from Jamaica. He is the youngest son of the legendary Jamaican musician “Bob Marley” and was two years old when his father died. His moniker “Junior Gong” comes from his father’s nickname “Tuff Gong”. Damian started his career at the age of […]
Jamaican Dancehall Has Produced Two Hits for Justin Bieber
Justin Berber’s hits “Despacito” and “Sorry” are some of the most popular songs in history. The video for “Despacito” became the most-watched video in YouTube history, and it was the first video to get more than three billion views. It also received the highest number of likes with more than 17.5 million. In July 2017, […]
The Top 10 Mr. Vegas Songs
Clifford Smith, better known by his stage name Mr. Vegas, is a Jamaican dancehall musician who has produced phenomenal music in the dancehall, soca, and reggae genres. Born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1974, Smith got his moniker “Mr. Vegas” from his football mates at school who thought that Smith kicked the ball like a Las […]
Vogue Magazine Features Jamaica Sumfest Fashions
Vogue Magazine took note of Jamaica’s signature style by featuring fashions on display at the 2017 Reggae Sumfest event. Recognizing that, in Jamaica, “personal style has always gone hand in hand with music,” Vogue characterized the “dapper” looks at Sumfest as being no exceptions. The music festival, which is Jamaica’s largest and longest-running music event, […]
Choreographer Fails to Credit Dancehall for Moves in “Despercito” Video
The remix of the song the reggae dancehall inspired “Despercito” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee that features Justin Bieber hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States and remained there for 12 weeks. The video of the song was the first on YouTube to get more than 3 billion […]
Conversation with reggae/dancehall performer Amir
There has never been a shortage of talented youths in Jamaica, and throughout the years the reggae/dancehall genre has seen its fair share of young superstars; Amir is one of them. In 2006 at a mere eleven years old, Amir, then known by the stage name Dadda, after performing at the annual Portmore Awards show, caught […]
The Top 10 Black Uhuru Songs
Black Uhuru is a Jamaican reggae band that was formed in 1972, initially as Uhuru which is a Swahili word meaning freedom. From 1972 till the present, the band has gone through a number of line-up changes only with Derrick “Duckie” Simpson being the mainstay. Arguably, the 1980s was their most successful period when they […]
Google Credits Jamaican American with Birth of Hip Hop
Google celebrated the 44th anniversary of the birth of hip-hop with a custom Doodle on August 11, 2017. The Doodle credited a Jamaican-American DJ who used the name “Kool Herc,” 18 years old back on August 11, 1973, as the creator of the genre now known as hip-hop. DJ Kool Herc was born Clive Campbell […]
The Top 100 Reggae Songs From 1962 – 2017
Jamaica gained independence in 1962 and about that time reggae music emerged. Reggae music has influenced the world and even started a few other genres of music. Over the years on my radio show, with the help of Clinton Lindsay, I compiled a list of songs from requests from listeners and past top songs lists. Here […]