Dre Island Makes Mass Appeal’s List of
“16 Artists To Watch in 2016”
Anticipation Builds For The Now I Rise Project A graduate of Kingston’s Calabar high school—alma mater of both Jr. Gong and Vybz Kartel—reggae/dancehall producer turned performer Andre Johnson aka Dre Island is emerging as a living link between the vaunted “roots revival” movement and the sound of the Jamaican streets. “The revival is really within […]
HEAR THIS: Chronixx “Majesty”
Chronixx Hails His Empress The Steam Ministah pours out his heart in this touching love ballad. With music inspired by the Studio One soul selection “I’ll Be Around” by Otis Gayle, and poetic lyrics that read like an excerpt from the Old Testament’s Song of Solomon, he speaks directly to his empress. “Before I hold you in […]
HEAR THIS: Inner Circle ft. J-Boog & Jacob Miller “I’ve Got The Handle”
The Bad Boys of Reggae Link With J Boog Fresh off a successful tour with SOJA, California-born and Hawaii-based reggae artist J Boog, releases a track with reggae’s “Bad Boys” Inner Circle and their late great vocalist Jacob Miller. Having topped the reggae charts for consecutive years with his 2011 full length release Backyard Boogie, J […]
WATCH THIS: David Bowie ft. Tina Turner “Tonight” Live
Ziggy Stardust Inna Rub A Dub Style In 1984, after his massively successful album Let’s Dance, and the subsequent Serious Moonlight Tour, the late great David Bowie went to Quebec, Canada to work on a follow-up album. “It was rushed,” he said later. “The process wasn’t rushed; we actually took our time recording the thing; […]
2016 Kickoff Playlist
Multi-genre Playlist of Songs That Are Already Moving the Massive Internationally in 2016 The start of the New Year could not be any better. This playlist highlights ten notable releases between the end of last year and the beginning of this year, that are stirring up the musical anticipation for the rest of […]
WATCH THIS: Allinor “Fun” Official Music Video
Straight Outta Ghana to St. Andrew Park What’s fun to you? Kicking a soccer ball? Playing with kids in the park? Listening to some tunes? Fulfilling your lifetime dream of traveling from Africa to Jamaica and recording a full album with some of the greatest reggae musicians who ever lived? All those things converge with […]
WATCH THIS: Reasoning with No-Maddz:
“Breadfruit is the new Bread, Baby!”
The Puku-Poo Posse Bugs Out With The Reggae Girl About Town Last year No-Maddz burst on the international scene with a debut album, Sly & Robbie Presents: No-Maddz, that Billboard magazine (with an assist from Boomshots) ranked as one of the Top 10 Reggae albums of 2015. In fact we’ve been rocking with No-Maddz from […]
Jah Cure Talks Grammy Nomination, Freedom for Buju & The Life He Lives
Reshma B Reasons With Iyacure Pon Di Cruise Nobody had more fun on this year’s Welcome to Jamrock Reggae Cruise than Jah Cure. The World Singer is always appreciative when he gets the chance to reach an international audience, particularly since visa issues have prevented fans in the UK and the USA fr0m seeing him […]
Reasoning with Joss Stone: “I’d Never Offend Someone Intentionally, But It Happens”
UK Soul Singer Recalls The Roots Of Her Reggae-Infused Album After becoming the youngest female solo artist to top the UK albums chart in 2004, Joss Stone sued her record label EMI, and formed her own Stone’d label in 2010. She lives in Devon with her four dogs and records pretty much whatever kind of […]
Billboard’s Best Reggae Albums of 2015
Boomshots Selects The Year’s Essential Reggae Discs As reggae lovers mark the 70th anniversary of Bob Marley’s birth, the music that the Tuff Gong spread around the globe has come full circle. While dancehall permutations from Major Lazer to Justin Bieber reverberate throughout pop culture, and Brits from Joss Stone to Keith Richards try their […]
The Biggest Riddims of 2015
Who Run The Place? Johnny Wonder, CEO of 21st Hapilos, Counts Down The Year’s Top Juggling When pressed to identify his most influential rhythm track or “riddim” of all time, the late Clement S. “Coxsone” Dodd chose the “Real Rock.” And Downbeat ought to know, half a century ago his house band, Sound Dimension, laid […]
WATCH THIS: Lady Bee & Noise Cans ft. Mr. Vegas “Bucka” Official Music Video
Mr. Vegas Puts the “V” in “Versatility” Clifford Smith, better known to reggae and dancehall fans worldwide as Mr. Vegas, put the V in versatility. Earlier this year, he released the critically acclaimed Lovers Rock and Soul album, an excursion into vintage reggae. After that he dropped a classic ’80s-style dancehall track (set to King […]