888 articles — page 2
Music Rebel Salute 2025 Returns to One Night: Maxi Priest, Luciano, Queen Ifrica and a Valiant Debut Over 12 Hours at Plantation Cove
The 31st Rebel Salute ran from 7 p.m. on Saturday, January 18, 2025 to 6:44 the next morning — 23 acts on a single night for the first time in a decade, in what Tony Rebel called a ‘strategic restructuring.’ The crowd was thinner than usual; the festival’s first overseas date, in Miramar, Florida, was announced for April 20.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Nardo Ranks, the Deejay Behind ‘Dem A Bleach’ and ‘Burrup,’ Dies in New York
Gary ‘Nardo Ranks’ Henderson, whose 1992 hit topped the RJR chart for six weeks and whose early-90s run crossed dancehall into New York hip-hop radio, died in Queens on Sunday, December 22, 2024, colleagues announced. He was in his late 50s. No cause has been given.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Robert ‘Ducksie’ Russell, Reggae Sumfest Co-Founder and Pier One Patriarch, Dies at 76
The Montego Bay businessman who helped found Reggae Sumfest in 1993 when Sunsplash left the city, chaired it for close to two decades and later sold the brand to Joe Bogdanovich died at Hospiten hospital in Rose Hall on Wednesday, December 11, 2024. He also co-produced the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival and served as assistant director on The Harder They Come.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Music Shenseea Releases ‘Never Gets Late Here,’ Her Second Album, With Wizkid, Anitta, Coi Leray, Masicka and Di Genius
Out May 24, 2024 through Rich Immigrants and Interscope, the 14-track follow-up to Alpha is executive-produced by London on da Track and arrives with a Kingston-shot video for ‘Flava.’ ‘Still maintaining my Jamaican authenticity, I infused my affinity for other genres such as Pop and R&B,’ Shenseea says.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Music JaRIA Honour Awards 2024: Beres Hammond Takes Lifetime Achievement, Teejay’s ‘Drift’ Is Song of the Year and YG Marley Is Breakthrough Artiste
The Jamaica Reggae Industry Association’s 15th-anniversary honours, staged March 27, 2024 at the Jamaica Pegasus, saluted Beres Hammond, Sister Nancy, Sean Paul, Pluto Shervington and Black Uhuru, named Stephen Marley’s Old Soul and Masicka’s Generation of Kings albums of the year, and introduced the Ibo Cooper Icon Award.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Music Peetah Morgan, Lead Singer of Morgan Heritage, Dies at 46
Peter Anthony Morgan, the voice of ‘Don’t Haffi Dread’ and ‘Down by the River’ and frontman of the Grammy-winning family band founded with his siblings in 1994, died on Sunday, February 25, 2024. The family announced the death on social media without giving a cause. His father, Denroy Morgan, died in 2022.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Music YG Marley’s ‘Praise Jah in the Moonlight’ Debuts on the Billboard Hot 100 — the First Reggae Entry Since ‘Bam,’ and a Sixth Marley on the Chart
Six weeks after its release, Bob Marley’s grandson enters the Hot 100 at No. 74 on the chart dated February 10, 2024, on 6.2 million US streams, as the song climbs the UK top 40 and tops New Zealand. Updated March 9 with its Hot 100 peak of No. 34 and UK peak of No. 5.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Music Julian Marley Wins His First Grammy as ‘Colors of Royal’ Takes Best Reggae Album
Third time lucky: after nominations for Awake and As I Am, the London-born son of Bob Marley won Best Reggae Album with producer Antaeus at the 66th Grammy Awards on February 4, 2024, beating Buju Banton, Beenie Man, Burning Spear and Collie Buddz. Marley was on stage in Australia; Antaeus accepted and dedicated the award to ‘the people of Jamaica, who have accepted me as one of their own.’
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Music Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett, Bassist and Backbone of the Wailers, Dies at 77
The Kingston-born bassist whose lines anchor ‘Stir It Up,’ ‘No Woman, No Cry,’ ‘Jamming’ and ‘Could You Be Loved’ died on February 3, 2024 after what his family called a long medical battle. From the Upsetters to four decades leading the Wailers, Family Man defined how reggae bass is played.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Music Rebel Salute’s 30th Anniversary Ends Abruptly as Police Stop the Show — After Capleton, Queen Ifrica, Etana and a First-Ever Sean Paul Set
The ‘30 for 30’ staging at Plantation Cove, St Ann, on January 19–20, 2024 was halted shortly after 7 a.m. on Sunday when police went on stage at the end of I-Wayne’s set, leaving Fantan Mojah and Turbulence unperformed. Before that: Capleton’s fire, Queen Ifrica’s 23rd Rebel Salute, a 40-minute Etana set and Sean Paul’s festival debut.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Music YG Marley Releases ‘Praise Jah in the Moonlight,’ a Debut Single Built on Bob Marley’s ‘Crisis’ and Road-Tested at Lauryn Hill’s Shows
Bob Marley’s grandson — Joshua Marley, son of Lauryn Hill and Rohan Marley — self-releases his first single on December 27, 2023 after fans who heard it at his mother’s concerts pushed for it on TikTok. Written by Marley, Hill and his grandfather, produced by Marley, Hill and Johnny G, the four-minute reggae song samples the Wailers’ 1978 track ‘Crisis.’
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Music Masicka Releases ‘Generation of Kings,’ His Def Jam Debut, With Popcaan, Spice, Dexta Daps and Lila Iké
Two years after the independent 438, Masicka delivers a 17-track sophomore album on December 1, 2023 through Def Jam Recordings — led by ‘Tyrant’ and ‘Limelight,’ with Popcaan, Dexta Daps, Spice, Chronic Law, Lila Iké, Fave and Fridayy on the guest list.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Music Dr Beres Hammond: The UWI Confers an Honorary Doctor of Letters on the Order of Jamaica Holder, Capping a Decade of Honours
At the Mona campus on Saturday, November 4, 2023, Chancellor Robert Bermudez presents Hugh Beresford Hammond, OJ, with the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters. ‘I feel good,’ he says — then sings ‘Rock Away’ to a pavilion of graduates. The degree follows the Order of Jamaica (2013), a second Grammy nomination for ‘One Love, One Life’ (2014) and a Billboard No. 1 for ‘Never Ending’ (2018).
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Music Michael ‘Ibo’ Cooper, Third World Co-Founder, Educator and Reggae Ambassador, Dies at 71
The keyboardist who co-founded Third World with Cat Coore in 1973, later led the popular music department at Edna Manley College and chaired the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association, died at his St Andrew home on Thursday, October 12, 2023 — weeks after the death of his wife, Joy, and months after losing his son Arif.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Music Teejay’s ‘Drift’ Enters Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay Chart — the Song That Was ‘Going in the Bin’ Is Dancehall’s Hit of the Summer
Released June 30, 2023 and pushed around the world by a TikTok dance, the Montego Bay deejay’s ‘Drift’ debuts at No. 47 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart dated October 7 — his first Billboard entry, landing on his 29th birthday, after the record earned him a deal with Warner Records and Warner Chappell.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Music Stephen Marley Releases ‘Old Soul,’ an Unplugged Album Born on a Florida Farm, With Eric Clapton, Bob Weir, Jack Johnson, Buju Banton and His Brothers
Out September 15, 2023 through Tuff Gong Collective, UMe and Ghetto Youths International, Ragga’s first full-length since 2016 grew out of lockdown jam sessions in a converted garage — acoustic guitar, binghi drums, bass and flute — and folds Sinatra, the Beatles, Joe Higgs, Lee Perry and an acoustic ‘I Shot the Sheriff’ with Clapton into 14 tracks.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Music Buju Banton Releases ‘Born for Greatness,’ 17 New Tracks With Snoop Dogg, Stephen Marley and Victoria Monét
The Gargamel’s new studio album arrives on September 8, 2023 through Gargamel Music, Roc Nation and Def Jam — a 56-minute set announced in July with the title track, following the singles ‘High Life’ with Snoop Dogg and ‘Coconut Wata (Sip).’ ‘Your eyes are not deceiving you nor are your ears,’ he says. ‘You were born for greatness.’
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Music Byron Messia’s ‘Talibans’ Enters the Billboard Hot 100 — Dancehall’s First Entry in Two Years
Boosted by the Burna Boy remix ‘Talibans II,’ Byron Messia’s breakout single debuts at No. 99 on the Hot 100 dated August 5, 2023 — the first Jamaican entry on the all-genre chart since Skillibeng’s ‘Crocodile Teeth’ remix in 2021, with the UK, Ireland and Nigeria charts moving too.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Lord Creator, the Trinidad-Born Voice of ‘Independent Jamaica’ and ‘Kingston Town,’ Dies at 87
Kenrick ‘Lord Creator’ Patrick died at home in Golden Grove, Hanover, on Friday, June 30, 2023. He arrived in Kingston in 1962 and wrote the anthem of Jamaica’s first Independence; his 1970 ‘Kingston Town’ became a UK No. 4 for UB40 two decades later. Eight months earlier he had collected the Order of Distinction from a wheelchair.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Boom Dandimite of Scare Dem Crew Dies in a US Hospital After Car-Crash Complications
Herman ‘Boom Dandimite’ Stewart, one quarter of the 1990s crew with Elephant Man, Harry Toddler and Nitty Kutchie, died on Sunday, May 21, 2023, shortly after flying to the United States for treatment. He had been recovering from a late-April crash on Half Way Tree Road and was booked for Reggae Sumfest’s 90s segment in July.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Music JaRIA Honour Awards 2023: Ras-I’s ‘Somewhere Wonderful’ Is Song of the Year, Valiant Breaks Through, Horace Andy and Shaggy Named Icons
The Jamaica Reggae Industry Association handed out its 2023 honours on Easter Monday at the Jamaica Conference Centre, Kingston. Grub Cooper took the Lifetime Achievement Award; Sean Paul’s Scorcha and Kabaka Pyramid’s The Kalling were named Dancehall and Reggae Album of the Year; Dawn Penn, Horace Andy and Shaggy were honoured as icons.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Music Julian Marley and Antaeus Release ‘Colors of Royal,’ an Eight-Track Turn Toward Electronic Dancehall
Out March 24, 2023 through Monom Records, the collaboration with Greek-American producer Alexx Antaeus pairs a John Holt rework, ‘The Tide Is High,’ with new songs ‘Inna Mood,’ ‘Robbed,’ ‘Roll,’ ‘Made for Your Love’ and ‘Jah Sees Them,’ plus two remixes — one the winner of a 247-entry, 117-country remix contest.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Music Kabaka Pyramid Wins the Grammy for Best Reggae Album With ‘The Kalling’
At the 65th Grammy Awards on February 5, 2023, Kabaka Pyramid’s Damian Marley-produced The Kalling beat Koffee, Protoje, Sean Paul and Shaggy to Best Reggae Album — a first Grammy for the Bebble Rock lyricist and a win for the roots revival generation.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Music Popcaan Releases ‘Great Is He’ on OVO Sound, With Drake, Burna Boy, Toni-Ann Singh and Chronic Law
The Unruly Boss’s fifth studio album lands on Friday, January 27, 2023 — 17 tracks through Drake’s OVO Sound, led by ‘We Caa Done’ with Drake and the title track, with production from Dre Skull, Anju Blaxx, Dane Ray, TJ Records, Mojam and more. Updated February 7 with its Billboard debut.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial