News & Culture
Stories from the yard — interviews, album reviews, festival coverage, and the people who shaped Jamaican music. 1,207 articles, from the 2009 archive to new editorial posts.
This section preserves JamaicansMusic.com’s original reporting from 2009 to 2022 as it was published, and is where new editorial stories from the JamaicansMusic team now appear. Posts are occasional rather than daily — for the latest additions to the library, visit the recently added music or get updates by email.
Anthony B Returns With ‘World of Love,’ a 16-Track Album Featuring Gentleman and Queen Omega
Thirty years on from ‘Fire Pon Rome,’ the Trelawny-born chanter released World of Love on September 4, 2026 through Ineffable Records — roots, lovers rock and dancehall across 16 tracks, with Gentleman, Queen Omega, Mo’Kalamity, FIA, Shuga and Jazzwad along for the ride.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Masicka Sells Out Barclays Center: A First Solo Arena Headline for the Portmore Deejay, One Day After ‘Forever Reign’
Reggae Fest Presents Masicka filled Brooklyn’s 18,000-capacity arena on Saturday, August 15, 2026, with Tarrus Riley, Keznamdi, Elephant Man, I-Octane, Vanessa Bling, Lola Brooke and Swizz Beatz joining him on stage. The set leaned on the hits — ‘Whites,’ ‘They Don’t Know,’ ‘Suicide Note’ — and previewed just one song from the new album.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Masicka Releases ‘Forever Reign,’ His Third Album, With Damian Marley, Lila Iké, Kraff Gad and Blaqbonez
Out August 14, 2026 on Def Jam, the 17-track set opens with the Jr. Gong collaboration ‘1 Psalm’ and folds in the 2026 hits ‘Boasty’ and ‘Slip & Slide.’ ‘Forever Reign means I’m here to stay,’ says the Portmore deejay, who headlines Barclays Center tomorrow night.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Gaza and Gully on One Stage: Vybz Kartel and Mavado Close a One-Night ‘Taste of Reggae Sumfest’ at Plantation Cove
With Catherine Hall still recovering from Hurricane Melissa, Sumfest condensed to a single night in St Ann on Saturday, July 18, 2026. Shortly after 2 a.m. Kartel, in camouflage, and Mavado, in black, revisited their Sting 2008 wardrobe and traded hits for the better part of two hours — Mavado’s first Jamaican show in more than a decade — before closing on their first collaboration, ‘Happiest Days.’
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Fantan Mojah, the ‘Hail the King’ Singer, Dies at 49 Weeks Before His 50th Birthday
Owen ‘Fantan Mojah’ Moncrieffe died at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston on the evening of Tuesday, July 14, 2026, of heart-related complications, his booking agent said. The St Elizabeth-born singer had been hospitalised in Martinique in 2024 with his heart reportedly working at 15 per cent, recovered enough to tour Europe, and was preparing for Reggae Jam in Germany.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Rebel Salute Makes Its Overseas Debut in Miramar, Florida, With Maxi Priest, Mykal Rose, Chalice and a Key to Broward County for Tony Rebel
With no Jamaican staging in 2026 after Hurricane Melissa, Tony Rebel took his festival to Miramar Regional Park on Sunday, April 19, 2026 — after two postponements in 2025. Rain did not stop the crowd; estimates ran from 2,500 to Rebel’s own 7,000. Gyptian and Louie Culture were no-shows. ‘A foundation has been set for bigger things,’ Rebel said.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Keznamdi Wins the Grammy for Best Reggae Album With ‘BLXXD & FYAH’
The Kingston singer’s self-released second album took Best Reggae Album at the 68th Grammy Awards on February 1, 2026, in a five-way Jamaican field with Vybz Kartel, Lila Iké, Mortimer and Jesse Royal. It was his first nomination.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Reggae Industry’s Hurricane Melissa Concerts Raise an Estimated $200 Million, Grange Says, as Reggae Month Launches
Three months after the Category 5 storm, the Culture Minister put a figure on the music community’s response: $64 million from the November telethon already lodged with Support Jamaica, about US$500,000 from the sold-out Jamaica Strong show at New York’s UBS Arena, and returns from January’s Stay Strong Jamaica concert in Florida still to come.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
No Rebel Salute in Jamaica for 2026: Organisers Cite Hurricane Melissa’s Toll on Western Audiences and Logistics
Tony Rebel’s roots festival will not be staged on the island this coming January. In a statement on December 23, 2025, Rebel Salute said the storm had disrupted the planning needed ‘to responsibly produce an event of this scale,’ and that it had ‘chosen to pause rather than proceed.’ A Florida edition is planned for April.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Hurricane Melissa Hits Jamaica as a Category 5 — Studios Dark, Sumfest’s Home Underwater, Music Community Mobilises
The most powerful storm ever to strike the island made landfall near New Hope, Westmoreland on October 28, 2025 with 185 mph winds. Western Jamaica’s studios and venues took the worst of it; Kingston’s Tuff Gong and the Bob Marley Museum were spared and became relief centres. Updated November 6 with the industry response.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Vybz Kartel Drops ‘Heart & Soul,’ an 11-Track Surprise Album, on the Night of His Barclays Center Show
Released at midnight on August 29, 2025 through Greedy Lion and Vybz Kartel Muzik, the set opens with a dedication to his fiancée, carries the TikTok hit ‘I Know,’ and features Ishawna on ‘Bad Bad Bad.’ Voiced largely in marathon sessions with engineer RedBoom, it arrived the same night Kartel headlined Reggaefest in Brooklyn.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Vybz Kartel Crowned King of Dancehall at Reggae Sumfest 2025
Fourteen years after his last Sumfest appearance and a year after walking free, Vybz Kartel closed an hour-long set at Catherine Hall on July 19, 2025 by taking a throne — with Queen of Dancehall Spice placing the crown. Organisers reported a capacity crowd in Montego Bay.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
‘Bob Marley: One Love – Music Inspired by the Film’ Wins Best Reggae Album at the 67th Grammys, Over Vybz Kartel, Shenseea, Collie Buddz and The Wailers
The 10-track covers album — Skip Marley, Mystic Marley, Shenseea, Wizkid, Kacey Musgraves, Daniel Caesar, Leon Bridges, Farruko, Jessie Reyez and Bloody Civilian singing Bob Marley — took the category at the Premiere Ceremony in Los Angeles on February 2, 2025, a year after Julian Marley’s win. Kartel and Shenseea, both first-time nominees, were in the room. ‘Bob’s legacy continues,’ Olivia Grange said; not everyone in Jamaica agreed.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Vybz Kartel Marks a Decade of ‘Viking (Vybz Is King)’ With Seven New Songs — His First Recordings Since Walking Free
Two days before his first Grammy ceremony, the Worl’ Boss releases the 10th Year Anniversary edition of his 2015 album on January 31, 2025 through Adidjahiem Records and TJ Records: four Viking originals alongside ‘God Is the Greatest,’ ‘It A Tape,’ ‘Polite,’ ‘Dreams Are Made Of,’ ‘Str8 Vybz,’ ‘Porn Flick’ with Ishawna and ‘#AmOut,’ all cut with TJ Records since July.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
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
Vybz Kartel Walks Free After 13 Years as Court of Appeal Rules Out a Retrial
On July 31, 2024 — the eve of Emancipation Day — Jamaica’s Court of Appeal ruled that ‘the interests of justice do not require a new trial’ for Adidja Palmer and his three co-accused, four months after the Privy Council overturned their 2014 murder convictions. Kartel left Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre that evening.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
Reggae Sumfest 2024: Lauryn Hill’s Surprise Set With YG Marley, Beres Hints at Goodbye, Babyface Crosses Over and Notorious Wins the Clash
The 31st Sumfest ran July 14–20, 2024 in Montego Bay. Lauryn Hill walked out unannounced during her son YG Marley’s Friday opener; Capleton took a Living Legend Award; Valiant, Jada Kingdom and Kraff never appeared. Saturday brought a reflective Beres Hammond, R&B star Babyface at 2:40 a.m. and a hometown honour for Nigy Boy.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
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
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
Privy Council Quashes Vybz Kartel’s Murder Conviction Over Juror Bribery Attempt, Sends Retrial Question Back to Jamaica
On March 14, 2024 — ten years to the day after the verdict — the UK’s Judicial Committee of the Privy Council unanimously overturned the 2014 convictions of Adidja Palmer, Shawn Campbell, Kahira Jones and Andre St John for the murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams. Letting a juror accused of offering J$500,000 bribes stay on the panel was ‘fatal to the safety of the convictions,’ the Board ruled.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial
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
‘Bob Marley: One Love’ Opens Worldwide on Valentine’s Day
Paramount’s biopic, directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green and starring Kingsley Ben-Adir and Lashana Lynch, opens in the United States and the UK on February 14, 2024, three weeks after its world premiere at the Carib 5 in Kingston. Sevana, Naomi Cowan, Alexx A-Game and Aston Barrett Jr are among the Jamaican musicians in the cast.
By JamaicansMusic Editorial