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WATCH THIS: Timberlee “Shmurda Freestyle” Video

The Man Dem Say She Body Well Shampoo Squeaky Remember Timberlee, the dancehall chica who made you “Bubble Like Soup” in a pot? She’s the latest to jump on the beat to Bobby Shmurda’s “Hot Nigga” with a fiery freestyle. Although the dancehall artist confirms that she’s “definitely not changing my musical style,” she does […]

WATCH THIS: Ini Kamoze “Hill & Gully Ride (Remix)” Music Video Teaser

You Better Hold On Good The original Hot Stepper (aka the “Lyrical Gangsta”—Murdera!) links up with Jamaican producer Kareem Burrell of XTM Nation (son of the late great Fatis Burrell, founder of the legendary Xterminator label) for this 2014 update of a classic Fatis production, first released 30 years ago. Today we get the first […]

Who is Shifta?

Born In Jamaica, Based In Miami, Ready For The World Dancehall is undergoing a changing of the guard right now with new talent bubbling up from the underground  to the top of the game faster than ever. One of the new names to catch our eye and our ear is a youth called Shifta, whose […]

Spice & Vybz Kartel “Conjugal Visit” Official Music Video

Prepare Yourself For Romping Shop Part Few It’s been quite a while since Spice and Vybz Kartel hooked up. So much has changed in the six years since their smash hit “Romping Shop.” That sexy selection became one of the biggest international hits for both artists, even as it created a furor in Jamaica leading […]

Damian Marley & Friends Rock The Boat on the Welcome To Jamrock Reggae Cruise

As Bob Marley Once Sang, We Were “All In The Same Boat, Rockin on The Same Rock” When The Wailers linked with Lee “Scratch” Perry to record their classic African Herbsman selection “Don’t Rock My Boat” back in 1973, chances are Bob Marley had no idea that 40-plus years in the future his family would […]

His Imperial Majesty

On November 2, 1930, the official crowning of a monarch occurred in Ethiopia Peoples of African descent, come from a lineage of kings and queens, as referenced in the bible. On this day, November 2,  in 1930, Emperor Haile Selassie I and his wife, Empress Menen Asfaw were formally crowned with regalia, together in Ethiopia. […]

Full Moon Playlist

  Ten Scary Selections for Your Halloween Party Playlist With fall comes one of the most festive holidays, Halloween. Elaborate costumes emulate scary and fictional characters; superheroes and sexy alter-egos. Children trick or treat for sweet candies and visit pumpkin patches. However, the holiday was created to remember the dead saints or “hallows.” This Boomshots […]

A Love We Can Feel: Respect To John Holt

Early Sunday morning, Reggae Legend, John Kenneth Holt, died at the age of 67 in London. Even after collapsing onstage during a performance at this summer’s One Love Festival in the UK, he insisted that his health was fine and said “I’ll be back.” Born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1947, he entered talent competitions at […]

Top Ten At-Sea Selections

A Boomshots Playlist Inspired By The Welcome To Jamrock Reggae Cruise “Jamaica is an island in the Caribbean sea,” Super Cat once observed. “In case you never know, it fulla mic MCs.”  The Land of Wood and Water is also full of boats and fishermen and as such it’s inspired countless reggae songs about the […]

Gunman World: Inside Jamaica’s Shotta Culture

Exclusive Excerpt from Mass Appeal Mag Cover Story by Rob Kenner, Photography by Ruddy Roye Jesquan Spence was not quite two years old when he saw the police kill his father. “The soldiers come in and take ’way the phones and say everybody fi sit down,” says the child’s grandmother, Michelle Davis, recalling that fateful […]

WATCH THIS: I-Octane “What a Way We Shattin'” Official Music Video

The Shot Heard Round The Globe As mentioned in the latest Mass Appeal cover story, “Gunman World,” Jamaican music has a long tradition of songs in which a metaphorical gun salute is the highest form of praise. The title of I-Octane’s latest track, “What a Way We Shattin,” voiced on DJ Sunshine’s “Wul Dem” riddim, […]