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Words by Jesse Serwer—
The connection between Eric Clapton and Bob Marley runs deep. “Slowhand”‘s 1974 version of “I Shot the Sheriff” is perhaps the most famed reggae cover of all-time, and the song that gave Marley’s music some of its earliest mainstream exposure in the U.S. To this day, it’s the only Clapton single (solo or otherwise) to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the only Marley composition to do so as well.
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Words by Jesse Serwer—
We’ve always got an open ear to lend new music from Mykal Rose. Anyone who tells you Rose isn’t one of reggae’s greatest vocalists is buggin’, and his voice hasn’t lost any of its power since his peak with Black Uhuru 30 years ago. Rose’s new LP, Show Down Inna Bloody Town, was recorded in California’s Bay Area, and along with the new surroundings have come some new sounds for Mr. Tutu Tweng, specifically splashes of Ethiopian jazz and Afrobeat.
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Words by Jesse Serwer—
Jus Now, the international production combo consisting of Bristol, England’s Interface and T&T-based LAZAbeam, are making some of the freshest soca right now. (They also made one of the coolest videos we’ve seen all year, for the soca-inspired-but not-exactly-soca title track from their One Time EP) “Differentology” excepted, they’re responsible for a currently scorching Bunji Garlin’s best tracks this year, including the calypso-fueled “Savage” and “Tun Up” off the aforementioned One Time. LazaBEAM, operating solo, produced another recent Bunji favorite, “The Canvas”
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Words by LargeUp Crew—
Great Googa Mooga, the music-meets-food festival where the chefs are bigger draws than the bands (last year’s headliners included the Roots and Hall and Oates, while De La Soul, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Flaming Lips are among those performing this year), has been called “food culture’s Woodstock.”
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Words by LargeUp Crew—
It’s going to be a Bay Area takeover this Thursday night on the The LargeUp Sessions, as Our NorCal crew (and burgeoning Latin rap stars) Los Rakas and our own Mixtape Mondays columnist Deejay Theory—make their return to our RadioLily.com radio show. Los Rakas are stopping through in advance of their Webster Hall show Friday night, amidst their run opening up theater shows for US reggae road kings SOJA; Theory comes to us fresh off a major (if unexpected) high note of his own: a well-received official remix of Demi Lovato’s chart-busting pop hit “Heart Attack.” Tune in to RadioLily.com Thursday night from 6 to 8p.m. ET to hear how it goes down, and catch up with Los Rakas via their two latest videos—for “No Tan Listo” and “Mi Pais”—below.
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Words by Jesse Serwer—
Freddie McGregor celebrated the start of his 50th year in the music business (Yes, he’s only 57; he got started at 7!) in January with the release of a new album, Di Captain. “Bagga Hype” is definitely one of the standout tracks from that effort. The song’s lyrics address the out-of-control, reckless behavior McGregor observes amoung many young Jamaicans, particularly those representing their country via the music business (or so it sounds to our ears at least), and the impact it has on the country at large: When mi talk to dem, dem say ‘respect due’ but dem nuh have none for me and you/Hotting up the place ’cause it’s pure curfew/Mek di Babylon dem a pressure me and you. Heavy stuff.
