Lady Saw ‘Contemplating’ Baptism (The Voice)
Popular Jamiacan dancehall star Lady Saw has confirmed that she is contemplating baptism, the Jamaica Star reports.
Earlier this week Saw, dubbed the ‘Queen of the dancehall,’ took to Twiter to announce the news.
She tweeted: “Been thinking of getting baptised from about six months now but then some people draw me out and I end up cussing them out, well not anymore.”
She also said the raw version of her track Heels On will be her last dancehall song before she makes the move into gospel music.
Ninja Man Will Be On Sting Stage, Says He Wants To Clash Tommy Lee (Urban Islandz)
Ninja Man has changed his mind about not performing at this year’s Sting.
The dancehall veteran finalized on a deal with Supreme Promotions this week that will see him taking the Sting stage for the first time in several years.
Ninja Man, who has not performed at Sting since 2007, says this might be his last appearance at reggae’s most popular one night show.
Malawi record label Nde’feyo signs news artist, Trumel (Nyasa Times)
Nde’feyo Music (Nde’feyo Entertainment’s record label) has added another gem to its list of artists by signing up-and-coming dancehall artist Trumel, born Truemale Bonnface.
The 28-year-old artist, who once stormed the music scene with dancehall smash-hit Let it Go and the record label, sealed the deal this week.
“Trumel is going to be with us for a long term. We are excited to add this huge talent to our roster,” says the label’s co-director Ken Limwame. “He has been under our radar for a long time; we were waiting for the right time to seal the deal.”
The coming in of Trumel brings the total of artists under the record label to four and his signing has added new flavour to the company’s set up with his reggae dancehall/afro-pop style highlighting an important dimension to Nde’feyo Music label which also has Biriwiri, Piksy and Armstrong.
Taxes – Entertainment Sore Point (The Jamaica Gleaner)
We’ve all seen the embarrassing stories of entertainers whose assets have been seized for unpaid taxes. Yet, it seems many artistes are still not as compliant as they should be.
In 2007 the issue came to the fore when the tax authorities alleged that Beenie Man failed to pay over $29,290,116 in back taxes and $18,641,254 in penalties, bringing the total to $47,931,370.
A few years later Bounty Killer was in the spotlight when his popular Range Rover along with his Toyota Land Cruiser were seized by the Tax Administration of Jamaica (TAJ) because he was said to owe millions in taxes.
Khago robbed by gunmen (The Jamaica Star)
Dancehall/reggae artiste Khago was recently robbed at the construction site of his unfinished house in Mandeville, Manchester. According to the Nah Sell Out singer, members of his staff were robbed of cellphones and a bicycle.
“Mi just guh pon di site and gunman run een sey dem a look money, about six a dem wid gun,” Khago said.
“Dem butt up one a mi cousin wid gun and tek wey phone and bicycle when dem nuh get nuh money, but I didn’t lose anything else from the property because most of the things dem too heavy to move,” he said.
Interview with Sam Gilly of House of Riddim (United Reggae)
Austrian workhorses House of Riddim have caused quite a stir internationally in the last years with the release of several well-acclaimed riddims, including the Camel, the Global and theSensimillionaire, complete albums like Natty King’s wonderful ‘Born To Be Free’ and singles like Edge Michael & Macka B’s Stand Alone – to name just a few. The list of artists the four members of House of Riddim have worked with reads like a who is who of the Jamaican and European reggae scene, from foundation artists to promising rookies. Time to unfurl House of Riddim’s history to an international audience. In Part I of this interview conducted at Reggae Jam Festival 2011 in Germany, Sam Gilly, the group’s drummer, talks about how he got into reggae music and what it is like to back more than a dozen artists on a single weekend.
Vybz Kartel, Konshens make provisional list for Grammy award (The Examiner)
Incarcerated Dancehall superstar, Vybz Kartelhas something to smile about today as one of his most recent compilations has been nominated for music’s highest honor.
Vybz Kartel’s Pon Di Gaza Mi Sey album, released in October 2011, is one of 50 projects on the provisional shortlist for the Best Reggae Album award at next year’s Grammys in Los Angeles. Pon Di Gaza Mi Sey, released a month after Kartel’s arrest on drug and subsequent murder charges, features many of Kartel’s hits dating back to 2008.
Some of the songs on Pon Di Gaza Mi Sey include Virginity (Versatility), Like a Movie, Get Wild, Life We Living and the controversial track, Romping Shop (featuring Spice).
Reggae stars Admiral Bailey and Pinchers return for Sunday concert (The Royal Gazette Online)
They gave us ‘Agony’, ‘Mr Bandelero’ and ‘Big Belly Man’ Admiral Bailey and Pinchers, two icons of reggae music, will perform in Bermuda this weekend.
Their performance is part of Veterans in Action, an annual event celebrating reggae music.
“These two performers were very popular in the 1980s and performed in Bermuda several times,” said Declan Harris of Tec Productions. “They still perform at a high calibre and are current. They do a lot of events in Europe and Asia. Reggae is very big in Japan right now.”