Between the end of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 the airwaves in Jamaica was filled with daggering songs. RDX, Spice, Aidonia and the man they crowned as the daggering king, Bragga Dat, all had tracks in heavy rotation on radio and in the streets.  In a matter of weeks, the then daggering craze seeped out of Jamaica and began dominated radio and dances overseas. Jamaica’s government felt that daggering was taking on a life of its own and more importantly was all about degrading women. As such, they pronounced that all daggering music should be banned from commercial radio across the island. The main song targeted was, “dagga dat” by recording artist, Bragga Dat.

Bragga Dat has since stepped out of the spotlight. As he puts it, the banning of his biggest song to date, dramatically slowed down his career and impacted him emotionally. He is of the belief that he was made the poster boy for “daggering” because his song was called “dagger dat” and he resides in the garrison area of Arnett Gardens. Additionally, Bragga confesses that he was ignorant to the business of music and had no one to advice him while all this was happening.

Fast forward three years later and Bragga Dat is singing a new tune, literally and figuratively. He says his daggering days are behind him and he is now squarely focused on “quen”, which is a new slang he intends to send out into the world. Bragga Dat has spent the last couple of years studying the business side of the industry and affirms that he is now ready to take on any challenges that he will encounter as an artist.

Fans and supporters can look forward to the release of his latest single, entitled “real quen” which was produced by Notnice. Bragga also released a Christmas song called “quen dem Christmas”, which persons can listen to by clicking on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8Pt4si6CSI

 Bragga Dat is managed exclusively by Lady Ann (876) 368-9904

On December 1st, recording artist Karamanti released The Refill, a 22 track mix CD fused with dancehall, hip-hop and reggae.

Karamanti had a productive 2011, literally spending hours in various recording studios working on new materials. The Refill is a compilation of all the songs released prior to November 27th this year. It has productions from Ricardo “Red Boom” Reid, Shamarie “Digital Sham” Bogle, Robert “Engingear” Rodney, Horace “Higher Purse” Reece and several other producers. The project features collaborations with hip-hop artists, Drake (on the “on one remix”) and YC (on the “racks remix”), and reggae artists Fermented, Smokie Benz, Ceekaih and Red Boom.

The Refill was mixed, mastered and produced by Bellingham based disc jockey, Triple Crown who has been a long time fan and supporter of Karamanti. The two first collaborated in early 2010 on the bulletproof track, which was produced by Triple Crown and features Karamanti. Later that same year they jointly released the “transition” mix CD that resulted in a tour covering Vancouver, Seattle and Bellingham.

So far The Refill has gotten favorable reviews from both critiques and fans alike. Below are links to listen to snippets of the mix and download the entire CD. 

Preview The Refill: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxDU_Hf1iUE
Download The Refill: http://www.mediafire.com/?xm36grd2npxv2ky

Greetings my people, I just wanted to personally touch base to let you all know that I have officially released Karamanti Mix Volume 2 – “the most underrated from then to now”. This is 18 of my songs that I think reflects the fact that I am truly underrated as a lyricist in the reggae/dancehall industry. This is not a mix CD or anything, it’s all-individual tracks so DJs can download and have the music to spin. It features older stuff as well as a whole bunch of songs recorded and released this year. Here is the download link: http://www.mediafire.com/?6tx39zg10qs3xu8 Feel free to share this link with your mailing list.

Also wanted to let you all know that I have reconnected with Triple Crown of Blessed Coast Sound out of Bellingham so this means an official mix CD is coming soon! Last year him and I got together and did the Transition mix CD and that was crazy so I am anticipating great things with this new project.

Finally, as many of you know I run a full-blown PR company and that is the reason I have not been pushing my career as an artist. I am pleased to announce that I have hired someone that I am confident can takeover and run the company so this will afford me the luxury of just being an artist. So all I can say is “pay attention cause I’m gonna turn it up now”.

Thanks for all your continued support and be sure to link me on all my respective social sites. Here are the links:

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Karamanti/106344336092282
YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/karamantitv
BLOG: http://karamanti.blogspot.com/
TWITTER: www.twitter.com/karamanti
REVERBNATION: www.reverbnation.com/karamanti
JOIN MAILING LIST: sheltarock@gmail.com

Many may remember Garnett Silk’s smooth voice and powerful lyrical content that captivated us in the early nineties and left us wanting more. His untimely death left a gap in the industry that no other artist has been able to fill, until now. Meet Humanuwah.

Born Prince-Emmanuel Alexander Smith, producer, singer and songwriter “Humanuwah”, found his place in the field of music through the journey to realize the true self (the spiritual self). Having a very strong desire to promote the message in his music and not himself, he has managed to shy away from the public for years.

He defines his music as a reflection of the soul’s journey to the inner higher states of consciousness, and says his purpose and aim musically is to be a channel of spiritual awakening, enlightenment and inspiration to the world.

There is not much to say about Humanuwah, his music speaks for him. Take a listen:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL16EA7C82BF758A51&feature=viewall

Download Humanuwah’s singles here: http://www.mediafire.com/?wefrg2pcjm9qksl

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Every recent interview you hear with a reggae artist they seem to be saying the same thing, “dancehall artists are messing up the business”. On the other hand, when you speak with dancehall artists they have nothing but positive things to say about the reggae acts of yesterday and today. This leaves one to ask the question, why are reggae artists so negative on their dancehall colleagues?

Could it be that they are jealous of the success today’s dancehall artists are getting?

Dancehall has become a 20 billion dollar industry with the corporate world investing in dancehall artists and producers like never before. These young dancehall entertainers are aggressive with their promotional efforts and they are getting results. No one will argue that the lyrical content needs some adjustment as it relates to being a little too derogatory. However, that aside these young people seem to be doing everything right.

With that said, is it fair to say then that the reggae artists of today may be doing something wrong? Put this question to dancehall artists and many have said yes. The thinking is that the reggae artists have not upgraded their promotion tactics to connect with what is happening today. They don’t campaign; they don’t try marketing strategies that will capture immediate attention. Instead, they seem to be doing what worked some 15/20 years ago and are surprised when their songs are not getting as much rotation as the dancehall artists.

Post a comment here or email your feedback to mj_magazine@yahoo.com

The Tribute Song by Karamanti is now sitting at the number seven spot on the Canadian Rebel Vibez Top Ten Chart after entering only a couple weeks ago.

The song, which tells of a true story, experienced by Karamanti and a family member is slowly becoming a hit in Canada. It is currently getting heavy rotation on all the major Reggae/Dancehall radio shows in the country and there are now talks of a possible Canadian tour to support the rotation.

To vote for Karamanti and ensure that she continue to rise to the top of the charts e-mail her name or song title (in subject line) to RebelVibez@CHRY.FM