ReggaeMe

After a two-year hiatus, the coveted Red Label Wine International Dancehall Queen title returned to Jamaica when Montegonian Tavia Morris, a 25-year-old nail technician, was crowned champion at the Pier One Complex on the Waterfront last Saturday, It was the 14th staging of the world's largest dancehall dancing competition.

Last year, American Michelle Young upstaged the contestants who came from all over the world to secure the title and took the crown up North. The year before that Canadian Maude Francato won the contest.

It was a great comeback for the...

The Bembe Squad, which started the hugely popular Bembe Thursdays at Weekenz, Constant Spring Road, has split.

Bembe Thursdays enjoyed a successful first year after it was launched in early 2007, but has seen waning support over the last several months.

The Bembe Squad comprises selectors Razz and Biggy, Jigsy, Rolex, Penny Bling and founder Richie Feelings.

Feelings, however, said that all the members are seeing eye to eye. "Everybody still good. And everybody benefits from Bembe, but everyone is trying their own individual thing," he said.

He...

YouTube - Sassa Step Contest Entry - Shy N (Japan)




With thousands of votes tallied and reviewed in the last three weeks of hectic voting, the organisers of the Sassa Step contest and video shoot winner have finally announced the winner. The winner is (drum roll please) Shy N, who tallied an incredible 35 per cent of the vote.

As the winner, Shy N will be flown from Japan to Jamaica to appear in Mr. Vegas’ new Sassa Step music video which is scheduled to be shot on Wednesday, August 19, 2009.

Most...

Jamaica, an island nation of the Greater Antilles situated in the Caribbean Sea, was named the ‘Xaymaca' by the native Arawakan-speaking Taíno people. It meant either the “Land of Springs,” or the “Land of Wood and Water”. When Christopher Columbus arrived at this largest Caribbean island, he claimed the land for Spain. The history of Jamaica can broadly be divided into the Pre-historic period, the period after the discovery of the island by other countries, the period of Spanish and English rule and the final phase of Jamaican Independence.

The original Arawak...

After more than a year, Mighty Crown "The Far East Rulers" and Irish and Chin will embark on an explosive World Tour starting in October to celebrate another major career milestone, a third Nike sneaker deal.

The Irish and Chin produced tour, dubbed The Mighty Crown Dynasty World Tour, after the soon-to-be released sneaker, will feature three of Mighty Crown's five members: Masta Simon, Sami T and Ninja. The Crown Dynasty Tour will represent the first time that Sami T and Masta Simon have toured together in over three years.

Mighty Crown has once again...

"No Alliance, no 'Gaza', no 'Plaza', no 'Gully'; JOP a dat me seh," says former Alliance member Aidonia after what seemed like a hiatus from the dancehall industry.

Aidonia said he has reinvented himself and is now ready to take back his spot in the dancehall industry with JOP (Jag One Production) by his side.

"Mi hide weh and reinvent mi thing. Mi nah deal with anything fi throw off mi energy or mi meds. So any negative people I was around, we just walk wide. We not even waan breathe the same air weh dem breathe," Aidonia said.

When asked if his...

Sources in Jamaica have named the banned substance that five Jamaican athletes tested positive for at the national trials last month as methylxanthine, a decongestant. If taken as a performance-enhancing drug it could assist in getting oxygen into the lungs.

Methylxanthine is often found in cough medicine and can be bought without a prescription over the pharmacy counter, adding to the potential confusion for athletes. A type of bronchodilator, it is commonly used in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Well-placed sources indicate that...

Beenie Man's 'Sizzle' concert, originally set for August 5, will now be held on Saturday, August 22. And that was not the only major change for the deejay's celebratory concert for 30 years in music announced at Pure Plush, New Kingston, on Wednesday night.

Sizzle will be held inside the National Stadium and not in the car park as was originally planned.

The name of the event is different from 'Summer Sizzle', as it was known when held previously at the Jamalco Sports Club in Halse Hall, Clarendon. A grinning Beenie Man said "We called it Summer Sizzle when I...

I had a bad file and had to backdate the site to two days ago.Anything that was posted within the last two days or registered will have to be redone.

Once again my apologies... and thanks for the support

Aug 20 1979 - July 24 2008



Me, Nefta, Damion, Steve

Several selectors have been abused in the past, whether by artistes or their entourages. However, these acts of violence are not encouraged by selector and other members of the dancehall industry.

The lastest victim was selector Richie Feelings who was hit with a bottle in his forehead, allegedly by a member of the Alliance, at the last Hot Mondays. This reportedly occurred because Richie Feelings did not play the artiste's songs.

This is not the first incident with Richie Feelings as he was involved in a verbal confrontation with Boom...

Grace 'Spice' Hamilton, who is now a Billboard artiste after landing the number 86 spot on the R&B/Hip Hop Charts with Rampin' Shop, her controversial duet with Vybz Kartel, is celebrating yet another victory.

Spice was last week signed to the prestigious VP Records label for a major album deal.

She said, "Last year, so many people started to approach me about signing me to album deals but I was so hesitant. After reading over some of the contracts and listening to what some of them had to say, it didn't seem like the best option...

Born: July 23, 1892
Near Harar, Ethiopia
Died: August 27, 1975
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Ethiopian emperor

Haile Selassie was an emperor of Ethiopia whose influence as an African leader far surpassed the boundaries of his country. Although his popularity declined near the end of his sixty-year reign, Selassie remains a key figure in turning Ethiopia into a modern civilization.


YouTube - Haile Selassie War Speech "Amharic Version"

Exploitation was one of the issues Ken Boothe touched on when he spoke with the participants of Project Artiste yesterday at the Red Stripe office, Spanish Town Road, Kingston.

The 61-year-old artiste was speaking to the aspiring producers, musicians, writers, managers and performers. He told the group that he started music because of the love he had for the art, but with very little knowledge of the industry.

"I used to sit around at Sir Coxsone Dodd studio waiting for him to call me to record. A lot of the hit songs I did, I did them...

Jamaica has moved up 50 places in the last three years to be ranked the third "happiest country" in the world", in the latest Happy Planet Index, published by Britain's New Economics Foundation.

Jamaica was placed 53rd on the list, an index of human well-being and environmental impact, when it was first published in July 2006. It moved up to third behind regional countries, Costa Rica, number one, and the Dominican Republic, number two, in the second report made public on Saturday.

The performances of the top three countries were...