When giant sounds with a fond love of the culture come together during a rare occasion, the result can only be music magic. To put it mildly, this is what went down in Japan recently when Mighty Crown teamed up with Rory Stone Love to take it “Back to the Hardcore” before thousands of fans during sold out shows in Yokohama and Osaka!
It’s very seldom that these prominent sounds share the same stage. In fact, historically, for 10 years (due to pretty well known behind the scenes mix up), the two sounds did not take dates together, with the exception of a couple of surprise/happenstance billings staged by a promoter. The beauty of “Back to the Hardcore” is that “The Far East Rulaz” and Rory Stone Love put all beef aside for the greater good of the music and culture, delivering outstanding performances to massive Japanese audiences.
With a focus on the phenomenal era of 80’s and 90’s tunes, a vibrant time for Reggae and Dancehall, Mighty Crown drew for some real dubs and classic 45s, setting the pace for the one and only Rory Stone Love to unleash killer anthems. The young and old shouted out lyrics to their favorite selections verbatim. It’s a no brainer, that classic Dancehall is Rory’s strength, so without question, the selector received forward after forward for slinging unforgettable tunes and riddims.
Mighty Crown launched “Back to the Hardcore” more than 15 years ago as a platform to educate fans on Reggae and Dancehall music. One night while playing, Sami T was approached by a young audience member who innocently asked “What is the Showtime riddim?” Add a few similar inquiries from young fans to this equation and there spawns “Back to the Hardcore.”
Notably, Sami T pinpointed the need to bridge the generation music gap. “Back to the Hardcore” was typically billed for artists until Rory’s breakout performance this year. In addition to stops in Yokohama and Osaka, “Back to the Hardcore” also made a sold out stop in Nagoya.
Jamaican Reggae/Dancehall artist Karamanti will be a guest on the Reggae Ambassadors Radio show today. It is aired on Radio Gold 90.5MHZ in Accra, Ghana from 7PM to 10PM GMT (which is 2PM to 5PM EST). Karamanti will be interviewed by host Prime Eye.
February 1st, marked the late reggae and lover’s rock icon Dennis Brown’s 59th birthday. Hailed by NPR Morning Edition as one of the 50 great voices of all time and by Bob Marley as one of the best reggae singers in the world – the revered Jamaican icon began his recording career at the tender age of 11 and has more than 75 albums to date. Even though he passed away at the early age of 42, his music and legacy lives on.
Ghetto Youths International – the independent record label owned and operated by Bob Marley’s sons Damian, Julian and Stephen – releases the third installment of Set Up Shop. The compliation series stands true to GYI ethos of making messgae music. Hence, the opening track “The Message,” which sets the precedent for the album. The song by Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley and Trinidadian soca star Bunji Garlin is passionate forward-thinking song fights for the souls of our youth and future generation.
Recording and Mixing Engineer Snysh is hoping one of the projects he worked on wins at tonight’s Grammy Awards. He recorded the live music to atleast two songs on Jah Cure’s “The Cure” album and also did some of the backing vocals. Additionally, he recorded all the songs on Barrington Levy’s “Acousticalevy” album (both the music and the vocals) and mixed approximately six of the tracks.
The Big Ship Captain Freddie McGregor entered 2016 at the top of the New York and South Florida Chart with his latest single “What You Gonna Do.” The track is on heavy rotation in the UK and is also featured on VP Records latest Strictly the Best Album. Produced by Freddie McGregor, Dalton Browne and Lloyd Campbell for Big Ship Music Inc., the album – “True To My Roots” will be released in Japan in May followed by official releases in Europe and North America.
