On Tuesday, April 21st, the one and only Missy ‘Misdemeanor’ Elliott premiered the visuals for “Cool Off,” one of the songs featured on her 2019 EP Iconology. The minute the video was uploaded to her channel, her fan-base went crazy and began sharing it all across social media.
Within a matter of days it racked up over a million views, and the number is still going up. If you have not yet seen it, click here or on the image above to watch the video and remember to like, comment and share.
Earlier today, Jamlink International, the organization behind the annual Aarhus Reggae Festival, informed us that this year’s staging is officially cancelled! This is as a result of the global uncertainty caused by the spread of the novel corona virus. Furthermore, the government of Denmark will not permit any massive gathering for the remainder of 2020.
The Aarhus Reggae Festival, which started in 2014, has become one of the city’s most anticipated reggae event. Past productions featured top-tier international reggae and dancehall acts, such as: Leroy Gibbon, Courtney Melody, Queen Omega, Macka B, Karamanti, Perfect Giddimani, Omar Perry, Natty King, Bunny General, King Kong, Super Black and so much more.
The event is produced each year under the leadership of Henzel Clarke (the chairman of Jamlink Intl.), with support from Voxhall, Maria Jackson and Aarhus Kommune. We are all looking forward to bringing this amazing event back in 2021.
A few days ago – April 19th – Kabaka Pyramid shared the visuals for his new track, “Dreams to Reality.” At the time the song was only available on pre-order as it was not yet officially out.
That being said, “Dreams to Reality,” which is on the One Time Music record label, is now live on all music platforms; it went live on Friday, April 24th. Click here to check out the video.
Fabolous‘ “The Soul Tape,” which was officially released on April 21st, 2011 has just been added to his soundcloud. This is the 5th mixtape from the artist and it features guest appearances from Paul Cain, Lil Wayne, Broadway, Red Café, Lloyd Banks, Vado, Trey Songz, Freck Billionaire, Ne-Yo and Ryan Leslie.
Earlier today the reggae king of story-telling, Mr. Beres Hammond, made a post on his social media that could mean only one thing; he may be gearing up to do a live IG / FB performance. See his post below.
“Blessed Monday to all. These are some very strange times we are living in. With faith in the Almighty, we will get through this together. This is the first for all of us. While I wish I were on tour seeing all of your beautiful faces, my faith is strong, and I know we will get through this. Stay tuned. I will be hosting a watch party very soon. We might as well get together virtually since the 2020 tour had to be canceled. In the meantime, be safe, and know we can #lovefromadistance.”
A few days ago UVI artist, Pressure Busspipe, released the official music video for “King Selassie First,” the lead track from his latest album Rebel With A Cause. The powerful visuals were captured at the Haile Selassie School of Vision in Blue Mountains, Jamaica by director Sameel “SAMO” Johnson.
Click here or on the image above to watch the video and remember to like, comment and share.
As dancehall music continues to sink into darker stages, with degrading women and promoting violence now the norm, shouldn’t we question the social responsibility of everyone involved in the music making process, or should we only focus (blame) the artists?
I’ve often wondered how an engineer sits behind a console and records things like: “dung inna har throat,” “mi kill baby pan breast,” and the likes. Furthermore, how does a producer get said lyrics and accept them as suitable for his rhythm driven project, record label and basically something he will permanently be associated with? What about the blogs, magazines and reporters that shed light on these type of music, giving them a platform to be seen and heard?
As Jamaicans who care about the overall moral state of the nation, we need to speak out against, and reject the direction popular dancehall music is heading in. None of us live in a bubble; this level of negativity, or dear I say evil, that we are allowing to dominate public spaces, will, sooner or later, affect us all. I fear that it has already started.
An observation by Maria Jackson
