Globally Urban » Dance Hall, Reggae And Caribbean Music

Haitian Reggae Artist out to make a difference

johnnytalkback — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:09:45 +0000

Miami, FL (Billboard Publicity Wire/PRWEB ) September 9, 2008 — Record labels Black Wolf and Pyramid, along with Fontana Distribution under the Universal Music Group umbrella, have launched a full-blown record campaign for reggae recording artist Wanted. In his campaign initiatives, Wanted focuses on his humanitarian contributions by giving back to his Haitian community under the Jacmel Haiti American Children’s Assistance Foundation (JHACAF), an organization he co-founded in 2007.

Wanted and his management/label team (also members of the JHACAF) left for Gonaives, Haiti this past Monday to assist in relief efforts from the destruction left by hurricane Hanna. In Gonaives, the JHACAF will begin to plan a tree planting aid campaign for the Haitian people and their land, which may be the perfect natural element to help promote water erosion, on top of cleaning up their poor air quality in the near future. To kick off the new campaign initiative, Wanted, along with additional Haitian recording artists, will collaborate on a new song written to bring awareness on how important tree planting is for the Republic of Haiti.

Leading up to the tree planting campaign, Wanted’s record campaign will provide initial public awareness, starting with radio promotions where over 200 terrestrial radio stations, as well as prominent Internet radio stations like Eye97.com, have already played numerous tracks from the debut record, primarily spinning focus track ‘Come Along’.

One Shott takes aim at the dancehall

johnnytalkback — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:55:28 +0000

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Rapper Lil Wayne added to Reggae Sumfest line-up

johnnytalkback — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:03:28 +0000

Reggae Sumfest organizers have added several new exciting artistes to this year’s festival, set for Montego Bay from July 13-19.
Rapper Lil Wayne has been added to the line-up along with reggae’s D’Angel, Terry Linen, Konshens, Alley Cat, L.U.S.T, Lutan Fyah and Rootz Underground.

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Black Uhuru rocks reggae enthusiasts

johnnytalkback — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:43:55 +0000

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Japanese women are dancehall queens

johnnytalkback — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:23:26 +0000

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The Many Moods Of Beenie Man

johnnytalkback — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:45:49 +0000

The Maestro Of Reggae Has A Little Something For Everybody
A COUPLE OF PUBLICISTS, A COUPLE of journalists, his manager, a hovering waiter, a small Jamaican restaurant in Manhattan–not much of a gig for dancehall reggae’s self-styled Maestro. But Beenie Man, slender, killingly handsome and dapper in a white suit, is a born performer. It’s easy to see how this young Jamaican has become the dominant figure in dancehall, the rap-reggae hybrid that’s displaced old-school reggae much as hip-hop has displaced soul. The tete-a-tete interview morphs into a seminar–he gives the death-ray stare when others start talking among themselves–and then into a Beenie Man infomercial, ending in an altar call. “”You in yourself,” he says to the dreadlocked young woman on his right, “”who believe in black culture and black liberty, you want to hear black music, you come to a Beenie Man show. You in yourself”–to a bespectacled white guy–”"who just love music overall, you can come to a Beenie Man show. You’re a calypsonian, you come to a Beenie Man show. You listen to country and Western, where you gon’ come?” The whole table choruses, “”A Beenie Man show!” The Maestro nods, and gives his spacey trademark laugh.

And he’s not kidding about country music. Beenie Man (born Moses Davis) can allude to Puff Daddy and Dolly Parton within the same five minutes, and his latest album, “”Many Moods of Moses,” has one cut recorded in Nashville with fiddle and pedal steel–which turns out to be a rewrite of Alanis Morissette’s “”Hand in My Pocket.” The disc also evokes “”Lion King”-esque African vocal music and new-jack swing (a rewrite of Bobby Brown’s “”My Prerogative”). There’s a calypso-inflected tribute to the South African martyr Steve Biko and collegial face-offs with dancehall rappers Buju Banton and Lady Saw. It’s a Jamaican analogue of Beck’s “”Odelay”–both wildly eclectic and wildly popular–thanks mainly to the hit single “”Who Am I?” which has been rocking dance clubs from Kingston to London to Brooklyn. “”It went No. 1 all over the Caribbean,” Beenie says. “”It went No. 1 everywhere where you got a reggae market. It did well for just a little song from Jamaica.” Last week Beenie Man had three of New York’s top-10 dancehall singles, and “”Who Am I?” was still No. 1.

Beenie Man (”"beenie” means “”little”) has been working up to this for 20 years–and he’s only 24. His uncle was a percussionist for Jimmy Cliff; Beenie started performing at 3, had his first single at 8, his first album at 10. On the one hand, he looks at his calling with a working man’s practicality: “”I’m not a mechanic, not a lawyer, nothin’. I’m just a musician. so you’re my employer. I am employee. I make music for you and you buy the music. That’s how I get paid. That’s the only job I know to do.” On the other hand, his bread and butter is instinct and inspiration. “”Who Am I?” (”"Sim-simma/Who got de key to mi Bimma?”) came about when he lost the keys to his BMW and heard a catchy beat on the radio of his Toyota Land Cruiser. Paradoxically, artistic restlessness has made him a popular entertainer; when Beenie talks about this, he drops into poetry. “”You have to bring your fans with you. This is where I’m going, I leave my ways, I see those days, I see the sunset rays, I reach a stage, turn a new page, stand by me–where you goin’?”

Only someone as many-sided as Beenie himself could buy into his whole trip. He’s both a hot-tub hedonist and a Puritan warning against “”filt’iness,” and his Rastafarianism has paranoid nooks and crannies. (”"Watch what you eat and smell what you drinkin’/'Cause in Geneva conference dey try to poison it.”) And like any regional performer, he risks alienating his core fans by courting a wider audience. But Bob Marley’s politics and religion didn’t stop him from being a world superstar, and his international stature didn’t lose him points at home. In borrowing inspiration from anywhere and everywhere, Beenie Man is in the mainstream of pop tradition. And for now, the farther his musical travels take him, the more new fans are following

What’s right with Jamaica

johnnytalkback — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:25:46 +0000

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Sean Kingston: Deadly Combination

johnnytalkback — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:02:14 +0000

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Group protests ban on Samuels

johnnytalkback — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:14:46 +0000

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French DJ productive in Jamaica

johnnytalkback — Thu, 22 May 2008 00:47:27 +0000

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