The 2019 staging of the Locs Festival will take place this weekend, Saturday, July 20th, at the Old Boys and Girls High School Baseball Field (777 Rutland Road) in Brooklyn, New York. International recording artist Everton Blender has been confirmed as the headliner for this year. He will be supported by several other performing artists and selectors.
Bright Star Production in association with Time One Production and JetStar Music, present Chaka Demus Live (The Success Album Showcase) on Thursday, July 25th, at Nanook (the headquarters for Vinyl Thursdays) located at 20 Burlington Avenue, Kingston, Jamaica. This event will kick off at 9 PM and will feature performances from several artists (Half Pint, Richie Stephens, Spanner Banner, Anthony Red Rose and others) as well as Chaka Demus himself.
Chaka Demus‘ album Success was released on March 1st via the Jet Star Music label. It has 14 tracks and features collaborations with Pliers and Isha Bel.
Tucked away in Tryon, North Carolina, is the humble home where Nina Simone developed her love for the piano. Despite its history, the home sat vacant until 2017 when four artists purchased it and saved it from demolition.
Today, with the artists’ guidance, the National Trust for Historic Preservation is working to create a vibrant future for the site, but they need your help! Join their campaign to ensure that Nina Simone’s childhood home is preserved for future generations.
Click here for additional information and to make a donation.
On July 26th Jahmiel will be releasing his album, Great Man, on both the DJ Frass and Chimney Records labels. A few weeks ago he shared the official video for one of the songs from that project. The track is a collaboration done with Moyann, titled Don’t Wanna Lose You, and the visuals are simple yet addictive.
Click here or on the image above to check out the video and remember to like, comment and share.
We’ve just been informed that the legendary Roots Crew will be playing at the Oxbow RiverStage, which is located at 1268 McKinstry Street, Napa, CA, on Friday, October 11th.
This event will begin at 7:00 PM. General admission tickets, which are going for $55.00 each as well as Gold VIP ($125 each), are available via Ticketmaster.
The 2019 staging of the Westside Reggae Festival will take place on Saturday, July 27th, at Ives Concert Park (which is located at 43 Lake Avenue Ext) in Danbury, Connecticut.
This year the organizers are boasting an all star lineup as they have confirmed: Etana, Beres Hammond, Maxi Priest and King Yellow Man.
IFA-TUNDE “The Oracle has returned,” is a singer/songwriter/producer and a man of many talents who is determined to spread the message of love to the world. Born in Camberwell, South London to Jamaican parents, Ifa-tunde grew up in Peckham up until the age of five before moving to Jamaica. He then lived in St. Catherine in Jamaica where he attended the Victoria All Age School.
His first experience with music as a child was when he would gather pots and pans and played them like they were musical instruments. Seeing this, his father brought a sound system (also known as a rig, which comprise of a bank of amplifiers, microphones and turntable decks) from London to Jamaica on which Ifa-tunde further developed and crafted his musical skills.
By the age of 11, he moved to Kingston settling at Bull Bay with his mother and three brothers. “Those days were rough” – as stated by Ifa-tunde when he experienced extreme poverty. Whilst being there, he was exposed to more music amongst the various sound systems that would be played in the area. However, there came a time when his mother had no choice but to put Ifa-tunde and her other two sons into St. Patrick’s Boys home while attending Alpha Boys school (now called Alpha Institute) where he learnt more about music. Alpha Boys school had been the home of many of Jamaica’s top musicians including Yellowman, Leroy Smart and Dean Fraser to name a few.
He later attended Kingston Senior School, but did not get to graduate as the needs of his family came first. So he went to Chestervale Training Camp in St. Andrew where he learned advanced electrical engineering – there he developed strong self-discipline. After leaving Chestervale, he began working at Brown’s Hardware in Spanish Town, Kingston.
He then left Jamaica in 1984 to return to London, England where he got involved in the underground reggae sound system culture during his 20s. He sang on sound systems such as Mafia and Youthman Promotion where he went under the nickname Winston General. He also sang harmonies for Junior Chin on Asher-World, which were one of leading sounds in the UK at that time, appearing on shows up and down the country.
In 1991, Ifa-tunde traveled to the USA where he spent a number of months singing on Exodus Sound System in New York before returning to the UK.
In 2000, he became more afro-centric and traveled to Nigeria and Ghana where he was initiated into the ways of the Orishas (Òrìṣà) (which is a Yoruba way of life/tradition) by a an Araba in a place called Ile Ife (the home of love). He was then given the name Ifa-Tunde; meaning the oracle has returned. In the meantime, while in Nigeria, he broadened his musical experience by performing with various traditional African musicians.
Ifa-tunde returned to Jamaica in 2003 to record his single ‘The Way That I Feel’ which became the featured soundtrack to the action thriller film ‘The Quiet Storm’ (2004). He then later went on to successfully launch his music label Orisa Music that same year.
From 2009, he had spent the next decade working on his music starting with his EP called ‘Black EP’ featuring songs such as ‘Neglecting A Child’ and ‘The Way That I Feel’, and is about to release his upcoming debut album called ‘Melanin’ featuring two singles ‘Sweet Jamaica and the title track ‘Melanin’.
Listen and learn of the full-joy music of Ifa-tunde; The Oracle has truly returned.
