Wednesday, December 8, 2021, closed the chapter on an era in reggae music brought to life by the wickedest drum-and-bass duo in history – Sly and Robbie. On that day, Robbie Shakespeare, one half of the dynamic duo, took his final breath, and as a...
The final round of voting, which will determine the recipients of the annual Grammy Awards, opened on December 6, and Grammy-nominated producer Cristy Barber is ready to go. “There is no better art to have in your home than a Grammy,” she tells The...
In Rastafari, the touching of the ‘groun’ signifies the unification of the body and the Earth, and when the element of rain is added to that synergy, the showers are hailed as blessings. For that reason, the rain did not mark the end of the...
The magic of Disney and Christmas have merged seamlessly to thrust award-winning Jamaican couturier, Raxann Chin, into a mystical realm – peopled with elves and other mythical creatures – and transform one of her dreams into reality. The founder of...
“It’s nice to be important, but it is more important to be nice,” DJ Tiger told The Sunday Gleaner, casually reeling off the lyrics in much the same tone and inflexion with which his real fans had become accustomed. Most importantly, there was just...
Singer Nadine Sutherland and dancehall culture have found their way into a book celebrating the rise of Kamala Devi Harris – the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants – along her journey to becoming the highest-ranking woman in the United...
On Friday morning, Dancehall Queen Spice showed that she clearly knew the assignment. She put her artiste profile on pause, and Grace Hamilton, the company CEO, walked through like a champion – wearing a Grace Noir top, of course – and delivered a...
One of the concerns of award-winning, Jamaica-born film-maker Roy T. Anderson is that “our stories were not being told properly”. Always possessing a curious mind and with a goal to “give justice to our people”, Anderson has brought to life the...
“It’s not just in the music industry; it is everywhere. It is in corporate; it is in the Church, ‘Hollyweird’, uptown, the ghetto. It permeates every area of life. This culture is rape culture! The music industry is a representation of society, so...
Grammy Award-winning artiste and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Jimmy Cliff is a musician, actor, singer, songwriter, producer, and humanitarian. And he is also something of a mystic and one whose journey in search of that eternal thing called...
Sly Dunbar, one half of the dynamic musical duo Sly and Robbie will shout it from the mountain top that he is a Daddy U-Roy fan, and he hails the pioneer as among the very best to have ever done it. When he reels off “chick-a-bow, chick-a-bow,...
Jamaica continues to be the playground of celebrities, and this week, original Wu-Tang Clan member Full Moon is scheduled to jet into the island, along with second- generation Wu-Tang acts King Tiger and Alistar, whose careers he is guiding. This...
On February 10, 1966, just five months shy of her 20th birthday, Alferita Constantia Anderson started what would undoubtedly be the most remarkable journey of her life. She tied the knot in holy matrimony with a musician and singer named Robert...
California-based reggae group Big Mountain is living the dream of every musician and enjoying some delicious Jamaican ackee while at it. Life couldn’t be better for the band, which has always counted Jamaican musicians among its numbers and which...
Something exciting is happening in Port Royal, that quaint peninsula positioned on the tip of Jamaica’s 18-mile long Palisadoes sandbar and which was once known as “the richest and wickedest city on Earth”. The former haunt of swashbuckling...
There is no need to get iffy with this one. Plain and simple, proud dad is indeed a person, and his name is Junior ‘Heavy D’ Frazer. Silky and soft are not the types of adjectives that one would necessarily associate with the music industry titan...
A project that came with a bar set so high that even the record holder would have had a challenge scaling is now boldly and proudly stamped ‘Mission Accomplished’ in black, green, and gold. To achieve this designation, powerhouse reggae and...
When the third official staging of the Jazz on the Duke concert series unfolds, among the elite performers will be proud Alpharian, singer Tony Gregory, and vocal powerhouse Keisha Patterson. For both performers, this concert represents a moment....
Even as the family of the late Bunny Wailer continues to make appropriate plans for his funeral, they paused on Monday to mark one year since Saturday, May 23, 2020, a day that has more questions than answers. It was on that fateful day that Jean ‘...
In March of the year 2020, excited about their mission, Samuel Clayton Jr, son of Samuel Clayton of the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari, and Brain Damage left France for Jamaica. The two producers had a project with Big Youth on their radar and were...
Artistes representing Jamaica, Belize, Trinidad, Argentina, USA, France, and Mexico were all brought together by Manatee Records President and CEO Calvin ‘Doc’ Flowers for a musical renaissance incorporating the iconic Satta Massagana riddim....
In January 2021, hours before demitting office, former US president Donald Trump cleaned house with a sweep of more than 100 pardons and commutations, some more controversial than others. Among those that came up for media spotlight was the...
From Garnet Silk to Vybz Kartel to Teejay, reggae and dancehall artistes have dedicated songs to their mothers, and even the grimiest artistes acknowledge that there is that one person who has their heart – mama. Mama Christie (Shabba Ranks); Miss...
In a perfect world, populated by perfect beings, every child has a mother who must be celebrated on Mother’s Day. But the opposite is sometimes the unpalatable reality. Dancehall artiste Chuck Fenda, born Leshorn Whitehead, has slowly been sharing...
