1 Comment
Words by LargeUp Crew—
Born in St. Thomas, Jamaica, raised in Toronto and based between T-Dot and NYC, Melodic Yoza has a sound that takes equal parts from reggae, soul and hip-hop. Perhaps you’ve caught his tune “Ride On Natty,” which was featured on an episode of Jersey Shore recently.
0 Comment(s)
Words by Jesse Serwer—
Just when we were thinking about putting Snoop on the permanent pay-no-mind list (c’mon son), Mr. Lion has gone ahead and done something kinda cool. Namely freestyling over the classic ’80s dancehall riddim Kuff (the Wittys Shelly Thunder version, not the Jammys version, to be specific) with Gyptian on the Randy’s Reggae radio show during Snoop’s in-store appearance at the VP Records store in Queens. We’re not saying the Doggfather’s freestyle is mindblowing or nuthin’, but for a guy who doesn’t write his own lyrics anymore, he comes off alright.
14 Comments
SOJA have become one of the biggest names on the US reggae scene over the last decade, touring relentlessly and dominating the iTunes reggae charts. The Cali/Hawaii reggae circuit SOJA are often associated with isn’t something we usually cover here on our Caribbean-focused corner of the Internet. But SOJA (who actually hail from Northern Virginia, not Cali) piqued our attention recently by spending some time at Circle House Studios (aka Circle Village), the Miami studio owned by Roger and Ian Lewis of Inner Circle, where Black Chiney’s Supa Dups helped inject some yard vibes into their mix.
The first track to emerge from those sessions, “She Still Loves Me” pairs SOJA with Collie Buddz over a crisp, Supa Dups-produced riddim, as vocalist Jacob Hemphill breaks some bad news to his old girl’s current beau.
0 Comment(s)
Words by Jesse Serwer, Photos by Martei Korley—
The Alpha Boys School in Kingston, Jamaica is generally acknowledged as the birthplace of ska music. The four original members of the Skatalites—Tommy McCook, Johnny “Dizzy” Moore, Lester Sterling and Don Drummond—got their start in the Alpha Boys band, as did other figures in the music’s development, including Rico Rodriguez. Other notable alumni who have passed through Alpha’s doors include Leroy “Horsemouth” Wallace, Yellowman and Leroy Smart. Today, the school, run by Sister Susan Frazer, continues to be an oasis for troubled boys in Jamaica, and an incubator for musicians. Its famed music program was even featured in a key scene in the recent Snoop Lion documentary Reincarnated.
0 Comment(s)
Words by Jesse Serwer—
It looks like it might be reggae week over at Rolling Stone. Besides for running some controversial comments from Snoop Lion about Bunny Wailer, the magazine’s website interviewed Island Records founder Chris Blackwell (that’s him above left, with Jimmy Buffett and friend at Blackwell Rum’s US launch party two years ago), who offered some interesting perspectives on Jamaican music, past and present. Besides for speaking on the 40th anniversary of Bob Marley’s Catch a Fire, Blackwell shouted out some of his favorite current Jamaican acts: Chronixx, No-Maddz, Raging Fyah and Shaggy.
0 Comment(s)
Words by Jesse Serwer—
As you may have heard, Shaggy has been in the studio working on a collaborative, back-to-reggae-basics LP with none other than the Riddim Twins, Sly and Robbie. We already were quite amped to hear what these legends were cooking up together—how could we not. But we didn’t imagine that the first leak would be something as massive as a collaboration with Jamaica’s favorite living singer, Beres Hammond, on the Sitting and Watching riddim made famous by Dennis Brown.
