Karamanti’s track entitled “the tribute song” has been added to the Rebel Vibez Top Ten Canadian Reggae Chart. The song will go up against other reggae songs that are currently doing well in Canada. To vote for Karamanti’s the tribute song, email her name or the name of the song to rebelvibez@chry.fm
The Top Ten Canadian Reggae Chart airs on CHRY 105.5 fm (in Toronto) on Mondays between 10am and 12pm (Eastern time). Persons may listen live at http://www.chry.fm
Maria Jackson, the owner and operator of Maria Jackson Entertainment Company, an organization focused on assisting independent artists, producers and record labels, is now a presenter on Jamaica’s BESS 100 FM prime time program.
Maria has been a member of the BESS FM team since the end of March. Initially, she did a weekly weekend program called “A FI WI KULCHA” but with the station undergoing some personnel changes, Maria was asked to work along side DJ DC on the daytime program called EVOLUTION.
EVOLUTION comes on directly after BABA-TUNDE on Mondays through Thursdays (1-5pm). It is an entertainment show packed with lots of music and useful information for the listeners.
Mondays on EVOLUTION are “Power Mondays” with a focus squarely on progressiveness and productivity to start the workweek. Tuesdays are “Connection Tuesdays” where the theme is love. Wednesdays are “Foundation Wednesdays” where the topic is usually one, which has some historical feature. And Thursdays are “Anything Goes Thursdays” and as the name implies, nothing is planned, anything literally goes, from the music to the theme.
The frequencies for BESS 100 are 100.1, 100.3, 100.5, 100.7 and 100.9 on the FM dial in Jamaica and persons outside of Jamaica can watch and listen live online at http://www.bessfm.com
Former back up vocalist for the Wailers, now an artist in her own right, Jennifer Barrett, believes that authentic roots reggae music from Jamaica is in real trouble.
Jennifer Barrett who may not be known as much locally as she is internationally, recounts going on several European tours where she would be performing with reggae singers from all over the world, except Jamaica. She states that last year June she was in Norway for the Bergen Festival and was surprised to learn that she was the only Jamaican reggae artist on the show. All other reggae artists were of a different nationality. And interestingly, the one-dancehall artist on the show was from the United Kingdom, not Jamaica.
Having been inspired by reggae legends such as Bob Marley, Dennis Brown and Toots Hibbert, Jennifer says the problem with reggae music today is it lacks the message that existed years ago. She believes the solution is to release more quality music and better artists that are able to represent Jamaica in the world. She also says it’s important to focus on the spiritual aspect of the music, as that will lead us on the right path.
For the last few years there has been an open debate within the industry as it relates to the state of reggae music. There are reggae music shops and stores closing all over the world and they are all placing the blame squarely on the poor quality of reggae music coming out of Jamaica. I have personally always argued that if your business is failing it is because you lack the know how to survive in an economically challenging and competitive time. However, after hearing the views of artist like Jennifer Barrett and others who share the belief that the genre’s foundation needs to be examined, I think we as Jamaicans who work in this industry needs to re-visit this issue and make a real attempt at addressing it.
Some of the problems I think we should be looking at are 1) the rhythms being created without the use of real live instruments, 2) consistently releasing songs after songs as such, using one project to kill or stifle another, 3) reggae artists refusing to work with ghost/song writers and 4) the lack of professionalism in some of the artists and producers making the music. These are just some of the problems we are facing. In my opinion the biggest one is the share ignorance about the business of music on a whole.
Someone once said that if Jamaican musicians and artists do not pay attention to what is going on with the music, Jamaica would no longer be the home of reggae music. I tend to disagree with this view as reggae music itself comes from the inner cities of Jamaica. It comes from struggles and sufferation and oppression etc. Reggae music is Jamaican and will always be. That being said, we have to ensure that we are creating the type of reggae that made the world fall in love with our music.
On May 20th the Money Green/Frenz For Real team, with the assistance of Vital Video Production, shot a medley video for the RAID RIDDIM.
Raid riddim, which was released on Tuesday April 19th, has been getting mixed reviews from various music critiques. Some have said that the rhythm does not have the necessary substance to cause a stir, while others have declared it a top dancehall rhythm for 2011. Whatever the view, Omar Benjamin (of Frenz For Real) and Damion Jordine (of Money Green Music) felt it was worth investing in a video and so they did.
Though the actual compilation has nineteen tracks, the video only features songs by Karamanti, Propally, Rahjah Dalla, Bentley, M.A.P, Gott-Yo and D2di-A. The selections chosen for the video was done based on the momentum the songs have been getting as it relates to radio and in the streets rotation.
The RAID RIDDIM video medley have already been released to some TV stations in Jamaica but should be officially released to all networks within the next week. Persons operating BLOGS and music websites that would like the video to be featured on their site, should email mariajackson27@yahoo.ca to have a copy sent to them.
Higher Purse has been in the studio for the last few months compiling tracks for his debut album, which is still untitled.
The reggae singer who is steady developing a loyal fan base thinks that it is important for him to position himself to take his career to the next level, and releasing a full-length album will do just that. The album will feature productions from Red Boom of Hard At Work Music, Antonie McLean of Legendary Productions, Omar Benjamin of Frenz For Real Music and Buff who is the producer of Russcuttaz Music, Higher Purse’s own record company. Higher Purse is also working on getting collaborations with Karamanti, Natural Black and a few other artists, which he hopes to include on the album.
In addition to the popular single, “rub-a-dub”, Higher Purse has also recently released “bitter sweet love remix” and “tell me” as leading singles to the album. Below are links to listen to both tracks and disc jockeys are welcome to request their free copies.
An official release date for the album has not yet been determined but he hopes to have everything ready by late summer, acknowledging that it could be delayed until the fall.
As for the Poor Man Riddim, Russcuttaz Music’s follow up to the Old School Riddim, Higher Purse contends that this project will still be released some time in the summer.
LISTEN TO “TELL ME”:
LISTEN TO “BITTER SWEET LOVE REMIX”:
DJs please send an email to Maria Jackson at mariajackson27@yahoo.ca in order to get both singles. You will be required to provide confirmation that you are in fact a disc jockey.
Dancehall artist Karamanti gets personal with her music by bringing a family issue to light in her latest single entitled “the tribute song”.
Being an artist that is known for addressing social issues and keeping her family life private, it is surprising to hear Karamanti pouring out her heart on this track. The song is called “the tribute song” and it is just that. Every line talks about an issue she and her entire family are dealing with. It is on the raid riddim by Money Green Music, which was officially released on iTunes on Tuesday, April 19th.
Karamanti says that it’s pretty sad that dancehall artists limit themselves to only a few topic and refuse to get out of the box, especially women who seem to focus mainly on men, money and sex. “I try to be different, I really don’t want to talk about the same thing everyone else is talking about. I never follow the crowd, it is just not who I am. I think my approach to music is the reason why I haven’t gotten that big break as yet but I rather to keep it authentic and never get that break than to go with the flow just to fit in. As for this song, I was in North America and when I got back home I was completely shocked to learn what had happen to my cousin. Being a person that tries to be honest in my music, I wrote about it,” explained Karamanti.
MARIA JACKSON 27 MAGAZINE 