BONAFIDE REUNION

BONAFIDE REUNION FOR WAYNE WONDER AND BUJU BANTON
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEW YORK, NY (RHONA FOX, INC.) - In the early 90's, they were dubbed the ultimate duo and now Wayne Wonder and Buju Banton are teaming up again. This time it's for a concert in Atlanta, Georgia on December 15th that's being billed as "the reunion" show. It's been years since the two have worked together; some would even say Wonder introduced Banton to the music industry. Wonder is credited for penning many of Banton's early hits while both were under the Penthouse umbrella, including "Murderer" and "Deportee." The two collaborated vocally for some spectacular dancehall staples and most-played hits still today, such as "Bonafide Love" and "What You Gonna Do."The Atlanta gig is just another pit stop for Wonder, who has been relentless in promoting his new album FOREVA, which dropped in September on VP Records. The new year will see Wayne showering his sounds on ear buds across the country as he embarks on the official album tour, come January.Log on to waynewonder.com for updated artist news and tour details, to see where you can catch him in action.

GYPTIAN SHOOTS VIDEO FOR NEW SINGLE

GYPTIAN SHOOTS VIDEO FOR NEW SINGLE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEW YORK, NY (RHONA FOX, INC.) - The video is in the can for reggae artist Gyptian, who just wrapped up the shoot for his latest single, "I Can Feel Your Pain." The Portmore, Jamaica native blasted onto the reggae scene two years ago, beating out Damian Marley's "Welcome to Jamrock" for song of the year in Jamaica, with his culture chant "Serious Times." Now the singer, who just celebrated his 24th birthday, is back with the poignant "I Can Feel Your Pain," recorded on the Cloud 9 Riddim from New York-based producers Imran " Fire Peter" Passard, Jon "FX" Crawford and Tamieko Carghill.The video was shot on location in New York City on December 8th and 9th, while Gyptian was in town for the Cultural Explosion concert that also featured Sizzla, Chuck Fender, Ras Shiloh and Courtney Melody. Gyptian's performance will be profiled in the video, set for release next week. The video was produced and directed by Rhona Fox."I Can Feel Your Pain" will be featured on Gyptian's sophomore album on the VP Records label, due to hit store shelves in 2008.
Caption: Gyptian on the set of his video shoot in New York.

CULTURE EXPLODES IN NEW YORK

CULTURE EXPLODES IN NEW YORK

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW YORK, NY (RHONA FOX, INC.) - It was just one of those day when Sizzla was as solid as a rock, when Gyptian was talking about some serious times, when Chuck Fender came over because it was lonely, and when Courtney Melody's sounds washed over the crowd just like the rain. Cultural Explosion on December 8th at Amazura in Queens, NY was just what fans were looking for, as they turned out in droves to witness the reggae stars at the top of the culture genre.

Chuck Fender, Courtney Melody and Ras Shiloh belted out fan favorites, and headliner Sizzla sizzled, no pun intended, with a performance that lasted well over an hour and covered more than 30 of his legendary tunes. Gyptian was also doing double-duty on stage, as fans were able to witness the making of the video for his next single, "I Can Feel Your Pain," directed by Rhona Fox.

Newcomer Ras David shone, as the crowd left their spots against the wall and converged in front the stage to take in his sounds. The night also saw performances from Little Lion, Elvis D, Nico, Rolly Bop, and a surprise cameo from Tony Curtis. The main lineup was backed by the Firehouse Band, which just added to this flawless event.

It was also a history making night, as many concertgoers were pleasantly surprised when the show started and ended on time, for perhaps only the second time in the venue's history. Kudos goes out to coordinator Tasz Smith of Triple T Production, who oversaw production of the show.
Perhaps this will encourage fans to return for upcoming gigs as this holiday season brings a bevy of reggae activity to the New York area.

A 'Black well' of J'can music - Island Outpost boss looks back at early years

A 'Black well' of J'can music - Island Outpost boss looks back at early years

Reggae's emergence on the world
stage came from his blueprint and nothing can erase
the fact that the first three pop/rhythm and blues
records produced in Jamaica were born in his camp.

In fact, it would be impossible to
pay Island Outpost's Chris Blackwell royalties for
helping to establish the global appeal that
complements reggae's name.

Since his hands turned the music into gold, freedom
fighters in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia), South Africa
and Namibia have adopted the lyrics as a means of
empowerment, yet Blackwell, a multimillionaire who has
touched the lives of so many, is still as humble as
the days he scouted talents at what he terms
"music shows".

Reminiscing on those days, Blackwell
told The Sunday Gleaner that then the artistes with
noticeable potential were promoted by a frustrated
singer named Horace Forbes.

"There was a singer on one of the shows one
evening who sang like Brook Benton. His name was
Wilfred Edwards. I decided I definitely wanted to
record him if he wrote his own songs," Blackwell
said.

The rest is history.

Around the same time, Blackwell had
made his production debut with Laurel Aitken, whose
double-sided single Boogie in My Bones/ Little Sheila
went to number one on the charts.

"My second record was by Owen
Gray, Please Let Me Go, and that went to number two in
the charts," Blackwell said.

Of course success was in his veins,
equipping him with the ammunition to produce song
number three by Wilfred Edwards, tagged Your Eyes Are
Dreaming, which also went to the top of the charts.

Click here to read full article.

Source: Jamaican Gleaner

Ziggy Marley to re-release 'Love Is My Religion'

Ziggy Marley to re-release 'Love Is My Religion'

Grammy award winner Ziggy Marley
continues to make strides, breaking new ground with
the re-release of his solo album Love Is My
Religion.

 

Released last year, his second solo album garnered him
a Grammy award for the best Reggae Album of the Year
earlier this year.

His first album to be released
independently on the Tuff Gong Worldwide label, Love
Is My Religion was available exclusively at Target
Stores and peaked at number six on Billboard's Reggae
Charts.

With the re-release come three bonus
tracks, as well as an independent distribution deal.

Marley told The Gleaner that
"this was the first exclusive deal with Target.
With the re-release the album will be more accessible
to the public. We completely revamped the album,
different technical things which make it kind of
different. We also added three new tracks which mi
really like. Dem lively and energetic. I've never done
a more popular cover of my father's song Jammin';
hopefully that will attract more people to the
album".

Marley
is throwing away the traditional record industry
formula and big-name labels, instead penning a
distribution deal between Tuff Gong Worldwide and
Ryoko Distribution. The album is now scheduled for
re-release and wide distribution on December 4, with
the additional material including live recordings of Jammin',
Dragonfly and Look Who's Dancing.

According to Ziggy, the whole
experience of making Love Is My Religion and
marketing the album without the links and money of an
established record company was beyond his
expectations. "We did good business. The tour did
well, we got a Grammy, everyt'ing worked out
well," he said.

The re-release of the album is but
one of many new projects Marley will be doing for the
Christmas and the New Year. Ziggy is also looking to
release a live DVD, in early 2008. The DVD was
recorded at Los Angeles' Avalon during the 2006 Love
Is My Religion world tour.

He is still doing shows, recording
music and looking forward to coming home.

"In February, there will be no doubt I will be
coming home. It's been a long time and I'm excited.
I'm coming to do something centred around Africa Unite
in February, which is my father's birthday. Mi and mi
brothers been talking about doing a Marley brother
record. That's the next t'ing we doing together, with
a whole tour," he said.

Source: Jamaica
Gleaner

Assassin shoots video for new single

Assassin shoots video for new single

Dancehall
deejay Assassin is now setting his sights on the video
for his latest single, Money Machine. The video
will be shot during the second week of December in
parts of Kingston, Jamaica and will be directed by
Julia Braham.

Money Machine is the latest
release from Assassin’s very own label Boardhouse
Records, which he owns with his manager/brother Gareth
Campbell and DJ Jevon “Bones” Bailey. Boardhouse
saw its previous productions with three tracks on
Assassin’s sophomore album Gully Sit’n
(VP Records), in stores now.



Promotional tours for Gully Sit’n have had
Assassin not sitting around. In the past three months,
he’s trekked to America, the U.K, Barbados, and was
in Canada last week for a sold-out performance.



This holiday will be another busy season for the
sensational deejay. Assassin will be celebrating his
25th birthday at a local college in Jamaica (UTECH
Papine), which is only fitting for one of the few
entertainers out there with a college education. He is
currently earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Business
Management.

Source: Rhona
Fox

Get up, stand up

Get up, stand up

Rock and reggae royalty have united as a Marley and the Van Halen clan get together for a feel-alright tour.

When Ky-Mani Marley was first announced as the opening act on Van Halen's 2007 reunion tour, even he was a little surprised.

"A lot of people were skeptical at first, but
David (Lee Roth) was supportive. He's a wonderful person and it was him who invited me on the tour to begin with and asked me to continue on the tour,"
says Marley, second-youngest son of reggae master, Bob Marley.

The 31-year-old, hip-hop artist and
singer/songwriter split his time growing up between his mother's Miami home and his father's house in Jamaica.

The guitar shredding sounds of Eddie Van Halen, and
fun-loving rock 'n' roll message in David Lee Roth's
lyrics, were not part of Jamaican-born teen's record
collection growing up in an inner-city ghetto.

"I was raised by my mom, my
grandmother and my aunt in the middle of Miami,"
says Marley.

"Growing up wasn't pretty. We definitely faced a lot of tough times. But I was in a
house that was full of love so many of the bad
times."

Marley was raised on early hip-hop music, funk and, of
course, reggae.

So when he scored a spot on the Van
Halen tour, the first thing he did was go out and buy
the hard rock group's greatest hits.

"I was a fan of the music, I
just didn't know it. When I bought their album and
started listening, it was like, 'Hey wait a minute, I
know all of these songs.' "

Marley was raised in Jamaica by his table-tennis
champion mother, Anita Belnavis, until he was about
seven.

When his mother moved him to the
U.S., Marley didn't see much of his famous Rastafarian
family for a few years.

"As I got a little older, I
would go visit every summer. We're very close as a
family," he says.

While his dozen brothers and sisters are from various
mothers, Marley says the bond between step-siblings is
as strong as if they had all grown up in the same
home.

"I think it's the love and
respect we have for our father. We know that's what he
would want. And so we're all trying to make sure that
we please him," says Marley, who's music
transcends the line between reggae and hip hop.

His third album, Radio, was released in September.
Marley says his opening set list on the Van Halen tour
is chalk full of old and new songs, as well a few
cover tunes from dad's classic songbook.

A 1996 recording of the younger
Marley covering a variety of his father's music was
released without the son's permission.

To this day, Marley will not
recognize the recording, Like Father Like Son, as an
album -- nor will he listen to it. The producer behind
the work took the recordings without Marley's
permission and released them.

"There are people in this world
who will do things like this. We're pursuing him
legally right now," says Marley.

He says he's not sure how his father
would have felt about hip-hop music, but he's
convinced his dad is looking down and smiling at the
fact one of his sons is touring with Van Halen.

"I'm sure he would have liked
it. And I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I'm
quite positive that him and (Van Halen) would have met
at some point. My dad was big rock and roll fan for
sure," he says.

Source: The Calgary Sun

Caricom stands up for entertainers

Caricom stands up for entertainers

Caribbean nations face an important
week of diplomacy and negotiations with the European
Union over a new liberalised trade and investment
deal.

Fresh from a summit last Friday,
leaders from the region will try to make contact with
EU counterparts and European Commission officials this
week to to try to reach a last-minute agreement.

They made some belated concessions,
permitting the phased duty-free entry of European
automobiles, petrol and mobile phones.

But they are holding out over the
free movement into Europe for Caribbean entertainers.

The Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur said:
"The Caribbean could clearly not enter any new
trade arrangement with anybody and accept a limitation
on market access to our cultural workers, our artistes
and our entertainers when we give people access to our
markets.

"The heads have made a very
clear decision that we could not conclude the
agreement with Europe at all unless there is a removal
on the restriction".

EU foreign ministers were meeting in
Brussels on Monday to among other things, debate the
trade negotiations with the African, Caribbean and
Pacific bloc, for the last time before the cut-off
date of Monday December 31 set by the
WTO.

Their recommendations will go to an
EU heads of government meeting on Friday.

Meanwhile at another summit in
Portugal last weekend, the EU and Africa exchanged
angry words over the proposed deals, known as economic
partnership agreements (EPAs).

"We are not talking any more
about EPAs, we've rejected them," said President
Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal.

Although some east African nations have already agreed
to the deals, many other countries argue that they
will damage their fragile economies.

The deals - to replace historical agreements which
gave former European colonies preferential trade terms
- demand that ACP countries open their markets to
European goods in order to keep tariff-free EU access
for their own exports.

Source: BBC News

Stephen Marley scores 2008 Grammy nomination

Stephen Marley scores 2008 Grammy nomination

Multiple-Grammy winning
artist/producer, Stephen Marley (he holds the Reggae
record with five Grammy wins) was nominated, for Best
Reggae Album for his 2007 masterpiece Mind Control.
The much anticipated 50th Annual Grammy Awards will be
held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on Sunday,
February 10, 2008.

“Every Grammy I have ever received
has been an honour and I’m grateful to be nominated
this year,” stated Marley.

Stephen is the third consecutive Marley (hailing from the great Marley musical dynasty) to be nominated in the Best Reggae Album category, with Ziggy Marley taking home the award at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards for Love
Is My Religion, and brother Damian Jr. Gong
Marley winning at the 48th Grammys for Welcome To Jamrock.

Mind Control (Tuff Gong/
Ghetto Youths/ Universal-Republic) landed at #1 of the
coveted Billboard Reggae Chart, and in the upper tier
of the Billboard Top 40 Album Chart, as well.
Critics raved about the groundbreaking album, with
People Magazine calling it a “masterful fusion of
reggae and hip hop,’” Entertainment Weekly
seconded that notion, calling Mind Control
the best Marley album in a generation.

Stephen snagged his fifth Grammy award for his
triumphant co-production work on brother Damian “Jr.
Gong” Marley’s acclaimed RIAA certified Gold disc Welcome
To Jamrock, making him the most honoured Grammy
winner of the Marley family, as well as netting him
the most Grammy wins of any other Reggae artist in
history.

The 50th Annual Grammy Awards will
be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on Sunday,
February 10, 2008. The telecast will be
broadcast on the CBS Television Network at 8:00
PM/EST/PT.

Veteran Reggae artistes Burning
Spear, Toots & the Maytals and Sly & Robbie
are among five Jamaican acts nominated in the Best
Reggae Album category for the 50th Annual Grammy
Awards.

Burning Spear got the nod for his
set The Burning Spear Experience; Toots &
the Maytals for Light Your Light, while
rhythm twins Sly & Robbie were nominated for
Anniversary.

The other two nominees in the category are Stephen
Marley for, and Lee 'Scratch' Perry for The End Of
An American Dream.

Click here to read full article.

Source: Jamaica Observer

Bigger better - Improvements promised for 2008 Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues

Bigger better - Improvements promised for 2008 Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues

Some were specified and a few were not. Some were certain
and at least one, the completion of the highway, as
much a statement of hope and confidence as a
prediction.

Take a slew of improvements were
outlined at the Mona Visitors' Lodge, UWI, yesterday
morning, as the 2008 Air Jamaica
Jazz and Blues Festival was officially launched.

And while the trio of female
headliners for the January 24 to 26
festival has long been announced, an extensive
supporting cast was outlined by Turnkey Productions'
Walter Elmore, who pointed out that there are six
Grammy nominations among those on the line-up.

On Thursday, January 24,
when the Sweet Love of Anita Baker is the
highlight, Spyro Gyra, JT Taylor of Kool and the Gang,
Yerba Buena and Marjorie Whylie, along with a
violinist Jessica Yapp and Sonny Bradshaw, among
others, will be presented at the Aqueduct, Rose Hall.

When Jill Scott does headline duties
the following night, Hugh Masakela, Ryan Shaw and Lou
Gramm, of the group Foreigner.

The festival closes with Diana Ross,
Taj Mahal, Billy Ocean, gospel group, Mary Mary, and
13-year-old Nikky Yankofsky.

And, for those who have suffered
through an Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues' traffic jam,
Elmore said confidently, "We will be having a
four-way highway for jazz. You will have an
underpass."

"We will be closing the nights
with the high-energy acts," Elmore said, naming
the Kool and the Gang member as the opening night's
closer.

Carlette DeLeon of Headline
Entertainment promised "the biggest and
best" festival yet, saying that there will be
changes to the venue to make it better. In addition,
"the VIP area has been further enhanced".

Another area of improvement is an
online ticketing system, outlined by Noelle Nichols of
Island Stubbs, through which persons will be able to
access electronic tickets as well as pick up tickets
at the gate.

Wayne Smith of OLINT, presenting
sponsor of the 2008 Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues
Festival, said the organisation was happy to be
"helping to promote globally the real vibe of
Jamaica through this internationally recognised
event".

"You can count on our
unwavering support, as we believe in partnering with
Jamaicans for Jamaicans," Smith said.

Representatives of other sponsors,
including The Jamaica Observer, CVM,
Supreme Ventures and Cable and Wireless, expressed
their confidence in and support of Jazz and Blues
2008.

The Jamaica Tourist Board's (JTB)
David Shields saying "this is an important event
in our active marketing strategy for Jamaica. It
represents all that Jamaica is about."

Air Jamaica's Will Rodgers
remembered the start of the festival and commented
that, for the airline, "things were a little
thicker then." "Fortunately, as Air Jamaica
got thinner people like OLINT grew to be a major
sponsor today."

Guest speaker, Zachary Harding of
the Ministry of Tourism, invited all "to come to
Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues to start 2008 with a
bang."

He said the festival "epitomises
what is possible when we come together and construct
products that are designed to be world class".

The talent stage will once again be
a part of the festival, Ian Gibson saying that
auditions will be held in Kingston at the Deck, Ocho
Rios at the Hard Rock Café and Montego Bay at Coral
Cliff in the second week of January.

Source: Jamaica Gleaner

Unite comes with Smile Jamaica and an array of international stars

Unite comes with Smile Jamaica and an array of
international stars

The Bob Marley/Rita Marley
Foundation's global initiative, Africa Unite concert,
will be held in Jamaica for the first time on Saturday
February 23, 2008 at James Bond Beach, St
Mary.

It will be a combination of two events with a host of
national and international artistes at which the
feature documentary, Africa Unite, will make its
Caribbean debut as part of the celebrations marking
the anniversary of the birth of late Reggae superstar
Robert Nesta Marley.

The film, starring Rita Marley,
Danny Glover, Angelique Kidjo, Lauryn Hill and the
Marley children, is produced and directed by Stephanie
Black of Life and Debt, H-2 Worker's fame. It will be
launched in February 2008 at the
Hilton Kingston Hotel.

People's Telecom will host the launch of the
documentary which highlights the vision for African
unity to which Bob Marley was devoted throughout his
musical career.

"We feel extremely honoured now in 2007 to be
asked by Mrs Rita Marley to host Africa Unite in
2008," stated Michael Dawson, CEO and co-founder
of the Jamaican-owned telecommunications company.

"This is a perfect synergy
between the Marley Foundation and People's Telecom, as
the company, from the outset, was founded on the
principles of stalwarts like Marcus Garvey and His
Imperial Majesty (Haile Selassie I), and influenced by
the words of Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny
Wailer," Dawson added in a press release.

The month of February will be bursting with activities
celebrating what would have been Bob Marley's 63rd
birthday had he lived. In addition to the documentary
launch, youth symposiums, lectures, and a Bob Marley
football competition are planned.

On February 6, 2005, over 350,000
people gathered in the historic Meskel Square of Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia to celebrate what would have been
Marley's 60th birthday. That 12-hour concert featuring
a host of internationally acclaimed artistes is
interwoven throughout the documentary, highlighting
the reggae icon's global influence.

According to reports of the event,
American singer Lauryn Hill passionately debuted new
material; Benin-born Angelique Kidjo jumped into the
audience during her performance; and Jamaica's Bob
Andy serenaded the Ethiopian crowd with his timeless
classics.

The concert culminated with a spectacular performance
by Rita Marley along with the I-Threes and all
Marley's sons singing their father's songs.

"Last year, Stephen Marley put
together the Smile Jamaica concert and that worked
very well, and then Mrs Marley, who has been doing
Africa Unite for three years before that in Ethiopia,
Ghana and in South Africa, decided to combine
both," a source close to the event told Splash.

"While it is important to have
it in Africa, she thought it important as well to have
the Caribbean and the people of African descent to
also unite as well. The idea is next year to have
Smile Jamaica/Africa Unite combined as one event.

"The idea is to push a positive
message, it's not just about Jamaicans, but Jamaicans
need to think more Afrocentric. we'll be having a nice
mixture of national and international artistes. We're
working with Ghetto Youth International and the Bob
Marley Group of Companies and Headline Entertainment
is co-producing the event," the source said.

Source: Jamaica Observer

Collie Buddz For Appleton Welcome To Jamrock

Collie Buddz For Appleton Welcome To Jamrock

Again,
Appleton Jamaica Rum Welcome To Jamrock has delivered!
The much talked about concert, scheduled for Friday,
December 21 at the Constant Spring Football
field, has now confirmed another one of Reggae’s
promising big guns- Collie Buddz. He joins an already
packed house of stars that will jam, entertain, and
liven up Jamaica’s entertainment scene for the
Christmas. He joins a list of stars which include the
Marley family, Tarrus Riley, and Etana among others.

Collie Buddz is no stranger to the
island. The music video for his break-out track Come
Around was shot by Ras Kassa right here in
Jamaica. In addition, he has constantly referred to
Jamaica as the hub for his influence, and cites here
as the influence for his music.

He was born Colin Harper in New
Orleans, but he was raised in Bermuda, and spent much
of his time in Toronto Canada. With the mixed
background, he was exposed to a wide variety of music,
ranging from dancehall, to soca, to hip-hop. These
three he held close, but settled comfortably into the
dancehall world.

He is quoted in several interviews
as claiming that he was deeply connected to the sound
system culture of Bermuda, and hungrily fed on the
lyrical diets of Buju Banton, Beenie Man and Bounty
Killer among other hard hitting deejays in the early
1990s. His brother being a DJ, it was only natural
that he began to deejay at an early age.

He recorded the Demo Track Come
Around, and that sent his career in motion. The
track has topped the UK charts, earned him a Sony BMG
deal, and is a definite dance-stopper here in Jamaica.
He recently released his self titled album, and is
riding high with other tracks such as Mamacita,
Blind To You, and What A Feeling.
Armed with this flawless Reggae reputation, he is sure
to deliver what Jamaicans have come to expect from
Welcome To Jamrock…quality music.

The main sponsors to date are
Appleton Jamaica Rum, Hilton Kingston, Kingston Beer,
Ticket Animal, RJR Group, The Jamaica Gleaner, Air
Jamaica and Wisynco.

Source: Headline News

Beres Hammond says a little 'suppen '

Beres Hammond says a little 'suppen '

Ahead of Beres Hammond's 'Moment', a four-hour concert blending classical and reggae music at the National
Indoor Sports Centre on Sunday, December 30,
The STAR did an in-depth interview with the longstanding and outstanding singer. Today we look at how he feels about performing.

When Beres Hammond performs, he
presents his well-known songs with passion, often closing his eyes, bouncing on his toes and 'flashing' his index finger as the music hits not only him, but also the audience. Hammond says the intensity and
obvious joy with which he performs "comes
naturally every time. "What I have I don't
know how it come about. I don't want to know how it
come. I am so proud to be the one it is coming out of.
I don't want to touch nutten whe no bruck," he
said. "Every time I stand up an' utter, a so it
come out. Me no drink nutten fe it, me no do nutten,"
he said. "Once they call the name (for him to
perform) is like something else. That has not
changed."

Still, that does not mean that even
after a lifetime of performing, going back to school
concerts in St. Mary, Beres Hammond does not feel the
performance butterflies. "I might get a nervous
moment before the show, five, 10 minutes before my
time."

He says that he will be at the venue, feeling quite
fine, and then, as his time to perform gets nearer, he
starts thinking "it is my time. It is really my
time. Why me, why me?"

The solution is that "during
that same period I take time to have my reverence. I
don't approach a stage without saying a little suppen.
I say a prayer. I ask the father to give me the voice
and the melody. Me never cease doing it."

And Hammond says that "within
that five minutes of jitters me hear them a call me
name. Me feel a little halo. Me hear me name, me say
'thank you Jah'. Me feel like a weight come off my
shoulder."

Then, "once me up there is like
me playground. The worst thing can happen is me sing.
An' no way de father naa flop."

As for performing songs that he has
done countless times before with that same passion,
Hammond says the songs still feel fresh every time.
"They feel like new," he told The STAR.

Beres Hammond asked for a definition
when THE STAR asked him if he considers himself a
legend. Then he says "no. I consider myself a
blessed person, a lucky one who manage to get the love
of quite a few people along the way. Not only the
love. I am so lucky that people teach me what I am to
do along the way. I always have people a advise me
from long time, like me is everybody pickney."
The advice comes from the old, the young, at home and
abroad and Hammond laughs merrily as he puts on a
Trinidadian accent and imitates someone telling him
"hey Beres boy, do so and so.

"Me one couldn't do this. Me
fortunate," he said.

As much as he has done, Beres
Hammond says "is only some of the work to me is
already accomplished. So far, is a bit of the world
sing along, but there is that song which is not made
yet".

Source: Jamaica Star

NY'S CHAMPION SOUND: STEELIE BASHMENT

NEW YORK'S CHAMPION SOUND: STEELIE
BASHMENT

For the past 17 years, Steelie Bashment has been the name in New York’s
vibrant Reggae/Dancehall music culture. From Steelie Bashment Sound System to
Waah Gwan Internet Radio, to the Annual Steelie Bashment birthday/anniversary
celebrations, Steelie Bashment has grown into a brand synonymous with Caribbean
music, media, and entertainment.

Founded in New York City in1990 by popular selector Dwayne “Steelie
Bashment” McKay, Steelie Bashment
Sound System set out on a mission to not only play music, but to be a leading
force in Reggae and Caribbean music entertainment worldwide. With an arsenal of
the best contemporary and vintage tunes spanning the Reggae, Dancehall, Calypso,
Soca, Hip Hop, Rhythm & Blues, Soul, and pop music genres, Steelie Bashment
Sound System has worn New York’s “Sound of the Year” crown for the past 7
years and counting, playing in just about every Caribbean music market around
the globe from North and South America, to Europe, the Caribbean, and Asia .

Capitalizing on their extensive following, Steelie Bashment ventured from
sound system to promoter/event producer with two of New York’s signature
events: Steelie’s annual birthday celebration and the annual Steelie Bashment
Sound Anniversary. Both events feature the ‘toppa top’ local and
international sound systems and entertainers and attract no less than 15,000
patrons.

In 2003 Steelie Bashment launched Waah Gwan Radio, an Internet station that
quickly rose to be a leader in Caribbean media, with DJs and personalities from
Jamaica, Trinidad, and Guyana covering the gamut of Island music and
entertainment. Known as far away as England, Waah Gwan Radio streams live from
6pm to 2am on Weekdays and 24 hours on weekends at http://pr4.netatlantic.com/t/269557/2423423/7227/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5zdGVlbGllYmFzaG1lbnQuY29tLw%3d%3d&x=8d0d1219.

Dwayne McKay was born and raised in Brooklyn of Trinidadian and Jamaican
parentage, where he grew up on the sounds of Reggae legends Bob Marley, Peter
Tosh, Gregory Issacs, and Dennis Brown. Before branching out with his own sound
system, he was a selector for a number of local sounds systems including
Spectrum, Stereosonic, Thunderbolt, Super Strong, Afrique, and Addies. Nicknamed
‘Steelie’ for his childhood idol Steely of Silver Hawk Sound and the
production duo Steely & Clevie, he picked up the name ‘Bashment’ from
his days as part of the selector dream team the ‘Bashment Squad’ with fellow
A-List selectors Tony Matterhorn, Super Twitch, and Super Claude. Inspired to
branch out on his own by Matterhorn’s post-Addies success, Steelie maintains
that it was his own drive and hunger for success that kept him at the top for 17
years, and still climbing.

“Steelie is hungry—I want it all,” he states matter-of-factly. “If I
have $100, I want $150; if I have $500, I want $1,000. No matter what, I just
keep going harder and harder.”