Shootout At Luciano’s House
The beloved roots reggae singer Luciano, also known as the Messenger, is known for soaring anthems like “Sweep Over My Soul” and “It’s Me Again Jah.” But on certain songs his voice suggested an edge of something altogether rougher…
Lucky Dube’s Killers Convicted
They tried to run, but they could not hide. Even their last, desperate escape attempt—using a brick to bash a police officer as their prison van arrived at Johannesberg High Court a few days ago—proved unsuccessful. And so Sfiso Mhlanga and Mbuti Mabe were back in court with their own heads bandaged. Their accomplice Julius Gxowa, who […]
Rihanna Affidavit
The year was 2006, Rihanna was 18 years old and performing in Jamaica for the first time. She had no drama with Chris Brown, just a song to sing. Can it be that it was all so simple then? Let’s go to the video tape: While you listen to the girl sing, check out the […]
BOOMSHOT: Bounty Killer “Dub Fi Dub”
Watching the Warlord juggle on the Answer riddim at Mavado’s party got me in the mood for some Vintage Killer, so I had to take it all the way back to one of his earliest singles to touch the road shortly after he changed his name from Bounty Hunter.
K’Naan To The World
Marley connoisseurs have been up on K’Naan for years now, but now that the poet/emcee/self-proclaimed “visual stenographer” is finally getting his shine, the rest of the world is starting to catch up.
NOW HEAR THIS: Good Girl Gone Bad
Tarrus Riley featuring Konshens “Good Girl Gone Bad”
Reggae Grammy Rewind
“Reggae Get The Grammy.” All These Years Later… do you still feel happy? “They nominate five ah we,” Yellowman chants over a bouncy Junjo Lawes riddim track. “Steel Pulse Black Uhuru and me / Peter Tosh and also Jimmy.”
Spear Burning Over Yonder
Photograph excerpted from SOUL REBEL: An Intimate Portrait of Bob Marley © 2009 by David Burnett. All rights reserved. Published by Insight Editions. Used with permission. www.InsightEditions.com This past Sunday, while 19-year-old Chris Brown was chilling in the L.A. County Jail and 20-year-old Rihanna was recovering from her injuries at a local hospital, 63-year-old Winston […]
Don’t Ramp With Kartel
“Daggering” is more than the latest yardie slang for sex, it’s a ritualized theater of the absurd that’s taken the dancehall by storm with acrobatic, thigh-bruising dance moves and a slew of songs cashing in on the controversial trend. It’s not like this machete/manhood metaphor is anything new. Nobody flipped out over Lady Saw’s “Stab […]
Politricks
Behold the Gong at his Tuffest… “Never make a politician grant you a favor / They will always want to control you forever.” REAL TALK
Soul of The Rebel
During his 36 years on planet earth, Robert Nesta Marley became one of the most photographed human beings in history. And judging by the brisk sales of Bob T-shirts, CDs, and rolling papers, nobody’s has yet grown “Tired fi see me face,” as he put it in his prophetic tune “Bad Card.” Now, just in time […]
WATCH THIS: Jay-Z feat. Santigold “Brooklyn”
Santigold & Jigga Go Hard For BK With A “Boom Bye Bye like Buju.” Brap. It should have come as no surprise when Jay-Z jumped on that Mavado track. First of all, Brooklyn is damn near Jamaica’s 15th parish, and its dancehall scene is a cosmos unto itself—impossible to overlook. Ever since Jay came out […]