Recently eXile di brave
linked up with UK rapper Mykey from ROCKSOLID
ENT. Along with Don Carl to complete a brilliant
collaboration titled Right or Wrong. This Dancehall/House
joint will definitely take eXile's career to another level as he will be
embarking on a European tour to promote this new fusion between
Dancehall and House Music.
eXile di brave is also ripping up the streets and mix tapes with a
remix of Drake's chart topping single Forever.
Celebrated reggae star Buju Banton is being detained in a
federal Miami prison following his arrest last Thursday (December 10) on drug
charges.
Banton, real name Mark Anthony Myrie, was booked with another unidentified man
after a surveillance camera caught them in the process of a drug transaction.
Authorities claim to have found the singer with 5 kilos of cocaine, and charged
him with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute.
Banton was in the midst of completing a milestone 2009. The veteran deejay had
received a Grammy nomination for his ninth studio album Rasta Got Soul, and
finished a successful North American tour.
During the tour, Banton also attempted reconciliation with the gay community.
The singer had been at odds with the group since his popular 1992 “Boom Bye
Bye,” which endorsed violence against gay men.
After receiving years of protest, Banton finally conducted a sit-down with the
gay community this past October. According to reports, the meeting remained
civil and productive despite Banton’s refusal to renounce his past views.
If convicted of the pending drug charges, Buju Banton faces up to 20 years in
prison.
At press time, the Miami authorities are expected to release further case
details on Monday (December 14).
Sources from 876Radio.com says that local based production company Level Up Records recently release a dance inspired musical tribute for the Alliance Governor Bounty Killer in commemoration of his outstanding contribution to the local music industry.
the single entitled "I R The 1" features vocals from the female international recording artist Cleopatra. The song was recorded some 2 years ago in Jamaica but according to Mr. Douglas CEO of Level Up Records the timing wasn't right back then "I made the riddim for the song 2 years ago but the vibe wasn't right, I wanted to releases it when Bounty was at the forefront of his career and i feel he is on a serge again".
Vybz Kartel a.k.a Addi the Teacha has
announced that he will not clash with Alliance boss Bounty Killer at any
stage show, and certainly not at Sting 2009 at Jamworld, Portmore.
"Mi
nuh know a wah fly up inna Sting Laing head. Mi nah clash widBounty.
Ninjaman ah di last outdated artiste me war wid. Bownty get him time wid
Beenie and now because people want see me and di Barber (to a lesser
level), it hurt him. No more Alliance is just Gaza and Gully (toa
lesser extent). Mi no have time fi idlers like Killa, mi ah do song fi
di nation and di world if him want a man back fi ride, tell him
to continue ride Bling Dawg's," he said.
"Ah Kartel and di Barber time ya now, Killa need fi mek good song weh people waan hear," he said.
INTERVIEWER: But what about the counteraction songs he voiced recently?
"Songs?
Which songs? Were those supposed to be songs? I only corrected,never
counteracted. But judging from the last 'song', I see his song writers -
cause him nuh write nuh song - are beyond help and recovery. Gaza-Gully
(the latter to a lesser extent) is where it stands. If him want war
Merciless and Beenie and all the artistes of his era are there. Why when
mi did a diss him fi one year straight, him never answer? Him fi go work
at Heineken Star time now and Good Times wid Ken Boothe dem and lef
dancehall to me and di Barber and stop embarass him shadow of his former
self," Vybz Kartel said.
Vybz Kartel won the title of
deejay of the year in 2008 on the strength of singles such as Ramping
Shop and Million Dollars by a Morning. Hehas continued a torrid run in
2009 racking up an amazing five number one singles since the start of
the year. Ramping Shop is also at £86 on the Billboard R & B/Hip Hop
singles chart.
The 17-year-old institution, Hydel Group
of Schools, has added a tertiary arm to its educational offerings.
In a ceremony
held at the school's headquarters at Ferry, St Catherine, Sunday afternoon,
Education Minister Andrew Holness officially declared the Hydel University
open.
Founder and
president, Senator Hyacinth Bennett, while welcoming the school's first set of
students who officially began classes yesterday, admitted the institution has
endured its own share of challenges.
"Hydel has
encountered a number of potentially blistering challenges," she said. "But
at Hydel we do not know how to give up, whatever happens we have kept
going."
The group
already has 11 educational departments including programmes from kindergarten
to the secondary level.
The tertiary
arm will offer degree- and diploma-level training in early childhood and
primary education on both a part-time and full-time basis.
The programmes
to be offered by the Hydel University will be geared towards pre-trained
teachers. Bennett further said, by next year, the institution will be adding a
master's level programme to its list of offerings.
Prime Minister
Bruce Golding said the new addition was an achievement for education in
Jamaica.
"I don't
know of any other institution that caters to the human being from nursery stage
through kindergarten, primary, secondary, all the way up to university. Under
one management, at one location," he said.
'University
village'
He further
pointed out that it would not be long before the institution would outgrow its
present location and committed to establishing a long term "university
village" for similar schools.
"That's
why the UDC (Urban Development Corporation), in designing the use of the
Caymanas Land, intends to reserve a section of those lands for what we want to
call, in concept, a university village," the prime minister said. "We
want to provide enough lands for these new universities to set up a proper
campus, on a permanent basis with adequate space for them to grow."
Golding added
that, in this setting, the institutions would be able to take advantage of the
support system that would be created.
"There are
various services that they would be able to share by occupying space
collectively and they would be able to reduce the heavy costs of operating a
university."
He said the
project was still in its planning stages as the UDC board and management would
need to consult with the Ministry of Education and the various institutions.
He, however, said it was an initiative that he fully supported.
Golding added:
"It is something that we want to do because this expansion opportunity for
tertiary education is something that is important to the future of this
country."
Bennett also
said students of the college would be exposed to training offered by highly
qualified and experienced lecturers, led by two of the island's outstanding
educators, Kay Anderson, retired vice-principal of academic affairs and student
matters at The Mico University College, and Dr Burnett St Clair Burton, former
vice-president of The Mico University College.
United Negro
Improvement Association (UNIA) advocate, Stephen Golding, will also join the
school's faculty in his role as Marcus Garvey chair, through which he will be
teaching the philosophies of the national hero.
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt reminded the world that he
and he alone is the fastest man alive. He did so by setting world
record times in both the 100m and 200m yard dash at the IAAF World
Championships in Berlin, Germany last week. In the last year Bolt has
set five world records. The man is truly brilliant and so is his taste
in automobiles. The shot above was taken as Bolt was shopping for a
Ferrari in California. Bolt is on his way to becoming a racing legend
and its obvious that he requires a car with a reputation to match.
Mr Vegas kicked off his 'I Am
Blessed' European tour on July 13 with a rousing performance on a show dubbed
Summer Reggae Fest at Fort de Saint Pere in France.
Vegas, who had performed in France earlier
this year, arrived at the venue at about 1 a.m. and hit the stage about 10
minutes later.
Working on tracks, Mr Vegas showed why he is
one of the most in-demand artistes on the European show circuit each year with
a high-energy set that had the audience in a flag-waving frenzy. Working for an
hour, doing a set peppered with dancehall hits Tek Weh Yuself, Raging
Bull and Hot Wuk, Vegas added old-time dancehall favourites such as Heads
High, which is a guaranteed forward in some areas of Europe, and Nike
Air which got a loud roar from the audience.
He closed his well-received set with his most
recent chart-topper, I Am Blessed, and exited the stage to a rousing
round of applause to make way for Buju Banton and his Til Shiloh band.
The new single So Fine by Sean Paul is the
most downloaded reggae/dancehall song in France, Canada, Belgium, Norway and
Sweden but it still has not been released in the US the biggest music market.
iTunes, among the internet's most
popular online music stores has So Fine charting in those five nations but it
is void on the US online charts. Currently Bob Marley's Three Little Birds at
number one and Serani's No Games at number two are the top downloads on US
iTunes.
Sean Paul's manager Jeremy Harding
told the Observer that the single would be released before July in the US.
"We are just getting radio rotations first before we release it. And it
should be released in two weeks in the US."
The album is slated for an
"August release date" he added.
Six-time Grammy Award winner Toni Braxton and
R&B singer and songwriter Ne-Yo have been added to the star-studded Reggae
Sumfest 2009 line-up.
Sumfest Productions' executive director,
Johnny Gourzong, made the announcement to a full house of media personnel at
the event's New York launch in Manhattan last Thursday night.
Braxton, who has sold more than 40 million records worldwide and is known for her number-one single Unbreak My Heart,
the second-biggest selling single by a female singer in Billboard history, is
billed to share the stage with the likes of Nas, Damian 'Junior Gong' Marley,
Inner Circle and the prince of reggae, Tarrus Riley, on Saturday, July 25.
international night
Ne-Yo
While Ne-Yo, who has five top 10 songs on
Billboard's Hot 100, and two number-one albums on Billboard's 200, takes the
spotlight on Friday, July 24, with acts including Jah Cure, Coco Tea and Morgan
Heritage.
Keeping the name of one other international
act close to his chest, Gourzong said he would make that announcement next week
at the local press launch in Kingston.
However, one of the biggest pronouncements
the Summerfest executive director could have made last Thursday was the plans
to pay tribute to the 'Doctor' Beenie Man at this year's event. The festival's
theme will surround Beenie, who is celebrating 30 years in the music industry,
Gourzong proudly told the gathering.
Kingsley Cooper, (left) CEO of Pulse, in
discussion with Christopher Anthony Nathan, programme administrator of the
Caribbean Academy of Fashion and Design at the University of Trinidad and
Tobago, at the Caribbean Fashionweek launch at Hilton Kingston hotel last
Friday.
Although the country is experiencing tough
economic times, Kingsley Cooper, Pulse Investments Limited chairman, promised
one of the best Caribbean Fashionweeks (CFW).
At the press conference, which was held at
the Hilton Kingston hotel last Friday, Cooper said Pulse found ways to deal
with the challenges faced.
"We have been creative in how we dealt
with it. We have learnt how to make something from nothing," Cooper said.
"We were challenged with no money and no
sponsors wanting to put up money .... Those with money were holding back. We
managed to produce the best show with fewer resources."
In order to do this, Cooper said, they had to
widen the net of sponsors, use more in-kind support and tightly manage the
funds they had. In addition, he said, they had to increase the entertainment
factor in order to lure more people to the event.
Lisa Bell of Jamaica Trade and Invest (JTI)
noted that, with the decrease in revenues from traditional areas of export,
such as bauxite, it has forced the Government to focus more on creative
industries.