Caribbean Reggae Fever is a live music event featuring Caribbean inspired bands, solo artists, DJ sets and food. This year’s staging will be on Saturday, August 21, at Millennium Place (21 Hales Street) in Coventry, England.
The musical lineup includes JC Lodge, Wayne Wonder, Tippa Irie, Peter Hunnigale, Ossie Gad, Claire Angel and more. The live performances will be preceded by a Caribbean carnival procession which kicks off at 11 AM local time. Get tickets and additional info HERE.
On Sunday, August 29th, Image Miami – The Int’l Music Festival, will be held at the Historic Virginia Key Beach Park (located at 4020 Virginia Beach Drive) in Miami, Florida. Starting time is 2 PM.
This event, which is being hosted by Carla Henry, will have music by DJ Don Hot, Walshyfire, Nasheen Fire and Dunrich World Sound. Additionally, there will be a live performance by soca king Bunji Garlin. Click here for tickets.
International dancehall artist Red Rat will be performing at Saint Sabestian, located at 86 Father Salem Drive in Ansonia, Connecticut, on Saturday, September 11th. He will be joined by emerging dancehall talent Dre Blunt, who is also scheduled to do a set.
The men will be supported by Famous Int’l, Force Ripe and other music selectors. As this is an all inclusive dinner and dance, patrons are being encouraged to come out early to partake in the banquet before the show begins.
On Friday, August 6th, Xana Romeo, the daughter of reggae legend Max Romeo, released her album The Roots Of X. The project has nine tracks, with guest appearances by Azizzi Romeo, Addis Pablo and Max Romeo; and it comes to us courtesy of the Charmax Music and Xana Romeo Music labels.
As one would expect from the off-spring of an established reggae artist, this record is professionally produced from start to finish. And as the name implies, it is indeed 100% authentic roots reggae music that’s loaded with both inspirational and conscious messages. Xana uses each song to highlight several important, and in some cases controversial topics.
She appropriately begins the album with Holy (track 1); which is a three minutes and thirty-nine seconds declaration about who she is and to whom she belongs. Xana then takes listeners to Africa on track number two, as she sings about the many issues and challenges still facing the continent. The Roots Of X has something for everyone: herb smokers, lovers, ghetto youths, lost souls etc.
That being said, there is an underline consistent thread running throughout the entire record, and that is one of righteousness. Those familiar with Xana‘s previously released single, Born In Sin (which is now #9 on the album) should know that most of the songs have that same energy, feel and vibe.
Usually when I write these reviews I would select a couple of tracks that really standout to me and then I would go into details about those particular songs. However, in this case I think that all the songs are really good and each should be listened to, digested and appreciated for what it is.
If I had to rate The Roots Of X out of 10 I would give it 12. Therefore, if you love reggae music I strongly recommend that you buy this record and add it to your playlist. See track listing below.
Download and stream The Roots Of X from your preferred music platform: https://lnk.to/XanaRomeo
The PRYDE Foundation, which is a 501c3 non-profit organization that offers mentorship, technical training and career development resources to at-risk youth, has awarded a financial scholarship to Jamaican student Rodget Faith Hylton.
Ten year old Hylton, who comes from a low income family, was referred to the institution as an ideal candidate for both mentorship and monetary aid. In an interview, the head of The PRYDE Foundation, Lafayette Hamilton, stated that “they don’t normally take on students at Rodget’s age, but based on her circumstances an exception was made.”
In addition to the financial assistance that she will receive, Rodget will also get ongoing counselling from members of The PRYDE Foundation; as the overall objective is to help her to become a better person in life.
Because the organization is based in Houston, Texas, they have assigned the ambassadorship role to dancehall recording artist Karamanti, who will be awarding the scholarship to Rodget’s mother in Kingston, Jamaica this month.
As Jamaicans all over the world are celebrating both the country’s emancipation and independence this week, they are also glued to their devices (traditional and social media) to watch the Tokyo Olympics, an event that is seeing the nation’s athletes break all sorts of records as they make history.
That being said, Jamaicans at home and in the diaspora are justifiably bursting with pride, and as such, radio and television stations have placed songs and videos that highlight all things Jamaica in heavy rotation. One such video is Derrick Scott‘s God Answer Prayer. The visuals were first added to various entertainment programs on TV in June, which is when it was released. Last week, as Jamaica started to get a lot of attention at the Olympic Games, the video’s TV rotation increased dramatically.
The song itself, God Answer Prayer, is particularly unique to Jamaicans, as it is inspired by Neville Martin‘s My Leader Born Yah, the unofficial anthem for one of the island’s major political party. Scott, who is a committed Christian, decided to give Martin‘s song a make-over by emphasizing his love for Jamaica and his belief that the island is truly blessed and covered by God.
At the end of July, Ineffable Records published Dance My Stress Away, a party/summer song performed by dancehall artist Demarco and international singer Stephen Marley. Though it’s new, the track is already enjoying favorable rotation on several broadcasting networks all over the world.
A few days after the audio was released Demarco uploaded the visuals to his YouTube channel. If you have not yet seen the video, click here or on the image above to check it out and remember to like, comment and share.
MARIA JACKSON 27 MAGAZINE 